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Rural Hours by Harriet Baker (Hardback)
£25.00
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9780241540510
Published:
04 Apr 2024
Format:
Hardback
Number of pages:
256 pages
Dimensions:
240x160x35mm
Weight:
0.590kgs
Author:
1917. Virginia Woolf arrives at Asheham, on the Sussex Downs, immobilized by nervous exhaustion and creative block. 1930. Feeling jittery about her writing career, Sylvia Townsend Warner spots a modest workman's cottage for sale on the Dorset coast. 1941. Rosamond Lehmann settles in a Berkshire village, seeking a lovers' retreat, a refuge from war, and a means of becoming 'a writer again'. 'Rural Hours' tells the story of three very different women, each of whom moved to the country and were forever changed by it.
*A FOYLES TOP TEN READ FOR APRIL*
'A superb portrait of the complex imprint the countryside makes on the life of the mind … A treasure' Doireann Nì Ghrìofa
In Rural Hours, Harriet Baker tells the story of three very different women, each of whom moved to the countryside and was forever changed by it. We encounter them at quiet moments - pausing to look at an insect on the windowsill; jotting down a recipe; or digging for potatoes, dirt beneath their nails. Slowly, we start to see transformations unfold: Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Rosamond Lehmann emerge before us as the passionate, visionary writers we know them to be.
Following long periods of creative uncertainty and private disappointment, each of Baker's subjects is invigorated by new landscapes, and the daily trials and small pleasures of making a home; slowly, they embark on new experiments in form, in feeling and in living that would resonate throughout the rest of their lives. In the country, each woman finds her path: to convalescence and recovery; to sexual and political awakening; and, above all, to personal freedom and creative flourishing.
In graceful, fluid prose, Baker vividly recreates these overlooked episodes, revealing how 'rural hours' defined the lives of three pioneering writers. In the end, she shows, their example is an invitation to us all: to recognize the radical and creative potential of rural places, and find new enchantment in the rituals of each day.
'Warm, perceptive, eloquent … Like Baker's protagonists in their countryside boltholes I felt "socketed" by this book. I know I'll return to it again and again' Lauren Elkin
'A meditative exploration of renewal, visionariness, grievous loss, and love - cool and passionate, fragile and enduring' David Hayden
About the Author: Harriet Baker has written for the London Review of Books, the Paris Review, the New Statesman, the TLS, Apollo and frieze. She read English at Oxford and holds a PhD from Queen Mary, University of London. In 2018, she was awarded the Biographers' Club Tony Lothian Prize. She lives in Bristol.
| Number of pages | 256 |
|---|
We will despatch your order as quickly as we can. If, for whatever reason, a product is out of stock we will contact you to discuss the likely delivery time or an alternative product.
| First Item | 2 Items & Over | |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £3.75 | £5.00 |
| EU | £15.00 | £30.00 |
| USA & Canada | £30.00 | £50.00 |
| Rest of the World | £45.00 | £60.00 |
| Collect in Store | free | free |
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