A treasure trove of nature tales from storytellers across the globe, bringing a little magic and wonder to every winter night.

As the evenings draw in – a time of reckoning, rest and restoration – immerse yourself in this new seasonal anthology. Nature Tales for Winter Nights puts winter – rural, wild and urban – under the microscope and reveals its wonder.

From the late days of autumn, through deepest cold, and towards the bright hope of spring, here is a collection of familiar names and dazzling new discoveries.

Join the naturalist Linnæus travelling on horseback in Lapland, witness frost fairs on the Thames and witch-hazel harvesting in Connecticut, experience Alpine adventure, polar bird myths and courtship in the snow in classical Japan and ancient Rome. Observations from Beth Chatto’s garden and Tove Jansson’s childhood join company with artists’ private letters, lines from Anne Frank’s diary and fireside stories told by indigenous voices.

A hibernation companion, this book will transport you across time and country this winter.

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Praise for Fifty Words for Snow, a Waterstones Book of the Month:

‘Absolutely exquisite. This little book is a work of art.’ Horatio Clare, author of The Light in the Dark

‘This stunning book made me want to pack all my woolies, candles, ample firewood and enough books for a year – and head to as northerly a location as I could find.’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Caught by the River

‘A delightful compendium’ The Herald

‘Winter has its own special magic, and this collection from around the world makes you want to pull on your boots and get out there.’

Saga  

From the author of Fifty Words for Snow comes a treasure trove of nature tales from storytellers across the globe, bringing a little magic and wonder to every winter night.

As the evenings draw in – a time of reckoning, rest and restoration – immerse yourself in this new seasonal anthology. Nature Tales for Winter Nights puts winter – rural, wild and urban – under the microscope and reveals its wonder.

From the late days of autumn, through deepest cold, and towards the bright hope of spring, here is a collection of familiar names and dazzling new discoveries.

Join the naturalist Linnæus travelling on horseback in Lapland, witness frost fairs on the Thames and witch-hazel harvesting in Connecticut, experience Alpine adventure, polar bird myths and courtship in the snow in classical Japan and ancient Rome. Observations from Beth Chatto’s garden and Tove Jansson’s childhood join company with artists’ private letters, lines from Anne Frank’s diary and fireside stories told by indigenous voices.

A hibernation companion, this book will transport you across time and country this winter.

___

Praise for Fifty Words for Snow, a Waterstones Book of the Month:

‘Absolutely exquisite. This little book is a work of art.’ Horatio Clare, author of The Light in the Dark

‘This stunning book made me want to pack all my woolies, candles, ample firewood and enough books for a year – and head to as northerly a location as I could find.’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Caught by the River

‘A delightful compendium’ The Herald

‘There is just one object I want to carry inside the van… It was believed lightning would not strike a house that held a thunderstone. I place this fossil on the windowsill, its surface gleaming like cat’s eyes ahead of me on a dark road.’

In the wake of a traumatic lockdown, Nancy Campbell buys an old caravan and drives it into a strip of neglected woodland between a canal and railway. There is no plumbed water, no electricity point and the walls are as thin as a Kinder egg. But it is the first home she has ever owned.

As summer begins, Nancy embraces the challenge of how to live well in a place in which possessions and emotions often threaten to tumble, clearing industrial junk from the soil, forging unconventional friendships off-grid and helping the wild beauty surrounding her to flourish. But when illness and uncertainty loom once more, she has to find a way to hold on to beauty and wonder, to anchor herself in this van, this safe space, this shelter from the storm.

An intimate journal across the space of a defining summer, Nancy Campbell’s memoir is celebration of the people and places that hold us when the storms gather; a soul-shaking journey that reminds us what it is to be alive.
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‘A beautiful and often very funny account of hope and healing in the face of illness and uncertainty.’ TLS

‘How to find beauty and wonder even in the most trying of circumstances’ The Scotsman

‘An uplifting, heart-filled read full of hope and love.’ Lulah Ellender, author of Grounding

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Can a tiny caravan provide the space to rebuild a life?

‘Life-affirming, soul-shaking, heart-breaking? A book that reminds us what it means to be alive.’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Thin Places

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‘It was believed lightning would not strike a house that held a thunderstone. And so these fossils were placed on top of clocks, under floorboards, over stable doors . . . But there are some storms that thunderstones cannot prevent.’

In the wake of a traumatic lockdown, Nancy Campbell buys an old caravan and drives it into a strip of neglected woodland between a canal and railway. It is the first home she has ever owned.

As summer begins, Nancy embraces the challenge of how to live well in a space in which possessions and emotions often threaten to tumble – clearing industrial junk from the soil to help wild beauty flourish.  But when illness and uncertainty loom once more, it is this van anchored in the woods, and the unconventional friendships forged off -grid, that will bring her solace and hope.

An intimate journal across the space of a defining summer, Thunderstone is celebration of the people and places that hold us when the storms gather; an invitation to approach life with imagination and to embrace change bravely.    

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‘In this beautiful memoir Campbell traces a season of upheaval, grief and uncertainty as she makes a home in an unusual place . . . An uplifting, heart-filled read full of hope and love.’ Lulah Ellender, author of Grounding

‘This raw, honest account of semi-urban caravan life offers a valuable lesson in how to find beauty and wonder even in the most trying of circumstances? [Nancy Campbell] is wonderfully alert to every nuance of every experience, and writes with joyous precision about the summer she sees unfolding all around her.’ Scotsman

‘A “many-splendoured book, which is at once an after-love, ever-loving letter to her ex; a real-time journal to keep herself company and emotionally intact; a worked-over piece of literary art (Campbell writes beautiful prose) and a rich newcomer to the latest and most exciting department of place writing.’ Horatio Clare, Spectator

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?‘A delightful compendium that brings together language, culture and adventure through frozen landscapes as it shares the meanings behind 50 words for snow, gathered from around the globe.’ The Herald

Snow. Every language has its own words for the magical, mesmerising flakes that fall from the sky. In this exquisite exploration, writer and Arctic traveller Nancy Campbell digs deep into the meanings of fifty words for snow.

In Japanese we encounter yuki-onna – a ‘snow woman’ who drifts through the frosted land. In Icelandic it is hundslappadrífa – ‘snowflakes as big as a dog’s paw’ – that softly blanket the streets. And in Maori we meet Huka-rere – ‘one of the children of rain and wind’.

From mountain tops and frozen seas to city parks and desert hills, each of these linguistic snow crystals offers a whole world of myth and story – the perfect winter gift.

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‘Absolutely exquisite. This little book is a work of art. It is impossible to imagine the reader who will not love it.’ Horatio Clare, author of The Light in the Dark

‘This stunning book made me want to pack all my woolies, candles, ample firewood and enough books for a year – and head to as northerly a location as I could find.’ Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Caught By the River

‘Sparkles and dazzles with new meanings and old magic. You’ll never see snow in the same way again.’ Matt Gaw, author of Under the Stars