Common Ground

Cowen, Rob

£10.99

After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, Rob Cowen finds himself on unfamiliar territory, disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for the nearest open space. So one night, he sets out to find it – a pylon-slung edge-land, a tangle of wood, meadow, field and river on the outskirts of town. Despite being in the shadow of thousands of houses, it feels unclaimed, forgotten, caught between worlds, and all the more magical for it. Obsessively revisiting this contested ground, Cowen ventures deeper into its many layers and lives, documenting its changes through time and season and unearthing histories that profoundly resonate and intertwine with transformative events happening in his own life. Blurring the boundaries of memoir, natural history and novel, this book offers nothing less than an enthralling new way of writing about nature and our experiences within it.

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Publish Date: 24/03/2016

Description

ONE OF BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE NATURE BOOKS AS FEATURED ON BBC’s WINTERWATCH

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2016

‘Bold and beautiful.’ Robert Macfarlane

‘Sensitive, thoughtful and poetic … leading us into a whole new way of looking at the world’ Michael Palin

‘Touched by genius’ John Lewis-Stempel

‘Absolutely mesmerizing, utterly beautiful and engrossing‘ Joanne Harris

After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, and about to become a father for the first time, Rob Cowen finds himself in unfamiliar territory. Disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for open space, he ventures out to a nearby edge-land: a pylon-slung tangle of wood, hedge, field, meadow and river that lies unclaimed and overlooked on the outskirts of town.

Digging deeper into this lost landscape, he begins to uncover its many layers and lives – beast, bird, insect, plant and people – in kaleidoscopic detail. As the seasons change and the birth of his child draws closer, his transformative journey into the blurry space where human and nature meet becomes increasingly profound. In bringing this edge-land to life, Cowen offers both a both a unique portrait of people and place through time and an unforgettable exploration of the common ground we share with the natural world, the past and each other.

Additional information

Weight 245 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 22 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

338

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

508.4284 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K