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The Place of Tides

£22.00

One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old lady on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been in decline. Still, somehow, she seemed to be hanging on. Back at home, Rebanks couldn’t stop thinking about her. She was fierce and otherworldly – and yet strangely familiar. Years passed. Then, one day, he wrote her a letter, asking if he could return. Bring work clothes, she replied, and good boots, and come quickly: her health was failing. He travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island. Slowly, he began to understand that this woman and her world were not at all what he’d previously thought. What began as a journey of escape became an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.

In stock

Description

From the No.1 bestselling author of The Shepherd’s Life, a ‘strange and enchanting’ story of friendship and redemption on a remote Norwegian island
We are all in need of lights to follow.

One afternoon many years ago, James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop, caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich, but had long been in decline. Still, somehow, she seemed to be hanging on.

Back at home, Rebanks couldn’t stop thinking about the woman on the rocks. She was fierce and otherworldly – and yet strangely familiar. Years passed. Then, one day, he wrote her a letter, asking if he could return. Bring work clothes, she replied, and good boots, and come quickly: her health was failing. And so he travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island.

This is the story of that season. It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape, and of the woman who brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough, isolated toil of bitter winter, to the elation of the endless summer light, when the birds leave behind their precious down for gathering, like feathered gold.

Slowly, Rebanks begins to understand that this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness.

Read a sample here

Additional information

Weight 0.411 kg
Dimensions 22.4 × 14.5 × 2.9 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

291

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

338.17659709481 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K