My reading list: august edition
Rural Hours; The Swimmer; braided essays; women impressionists
We are nearing the hazy end of Summer; that moment of suspension where the air has faint shimmers of autumn’s presence. Perhaps my favourite time of year. The leaves have already started to curl, turn brown, and make their beds on the earth’s floor.
As the seasons have shifted, I’ve been savouring the last moments of late summer before autumn’s embrace by enjoying lots of reading in the garden. I’ve read two fantastic books, exploring similar themes of rural England, country living, and writers’ lives. I’ve also recently got myself a subscription to the Times Literary Supplement, so I’ve been enjoying perusing through the archives, and excitedly got my first printed edition in the post.
Books
Rural Hours by Harriet Baker
Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Warner (2024) by Harriet Baker, has been an absolute delight to read. Following the lives of three writers, who leave behind their urban settings to live in the countryside, experiencing a more rural, and secluded way of life in Sussex, Dorset and Berkshire.
For Woolf, it followed a period of illness; moving into Asheham house allowed Woolf to recuperate and embed herself into the world once again, keeping a diary documenting the everyday occurrences of country living. In the case of Sylvia Townsend Warner, it was to start afresh as a writer and to explore her curiosities of rural living (she also left a long-term relationship with a married man). Warner’s time in the country would prove most transformative, both politically and for her sexuality. In the country, she would meet her long-time partner, the poet Valentine Ackland, a relationship that would shape both women irrevocably. Finally, Rosamond Lehmann, packed up her life, leaving behind her second marriage to start anew in rural Berkshire. This move would prove important not only for her personal life but also her professional writing life.
This book ebbs with the life and work of these women writers, who through taking to the country, explored simpler ways of living. During these fallow periods, supported the container for the beginnings of their most eloquent and experimental works.
I will be sharing a full book review on my Substack in a couple of weeks.
The Swimmer by Patrick Barkham
The second book I finished (I started this a couple of months ago, but ended up putting it down, and forgot about it—this is not a reflection of the book’s quality by any means). The Swimmer (2024) by Patrick Barkham, is a biography of the nature writer Roger Deakin, who wrote the wildly successful, Waterlog (1999), and Wildwood (2008) which was published posthumously after his death. I’m a huge fan of Deakin’s writing; I was introduced to his work through my mum, who shared her copy of Waterlog with me.
Barkham’s biography follows the meanderings of Deakin’s unconventional life, as a Cambridge graduate, advertiser, English teacher, concert promoter, writer and environmental campaigner. But more than anything, he was a lover of the natural world. This love of the natural world was translated through his words and the renovation and upkeep of her Suffolk home, Walnut Tree Farm (a place I would love to visit one day).
Overall, I loved reading this book and getting a glimpse of a writer, beyond just their fame writerly fame. I got a glimpse of the man behind the book; a restless spirit in search of adventure and new experiences. As Deakin isn’t around to
Reviews
In the recent Times Literary Supplement, I read ‘Grace, ease and struggle’ by Boyd Tonkin. The article spoke of women impressionist artists in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Including the artists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzales and Marie Bracuemond; I enjoyed Tonkin’s interpretation, that these women were impressionist artists in their own right, who carved out a place amongst the impressionist movement, rather than seeing these women as ‘overlooked’ (this was the title of the Ordrupgaard museum in Denmark). It sheds light on the way these women depicted domestic life, but also captured the transience and mortality of life.
Long-form essay
Following Floodlights Instead of the Moon by Gina DeMillo Wagner
This is such a wonderful example of a braided essay; I loved Wagner’s use of exploring motherhood, alongside her experience of working at a turtle sanctuary in her early twenties. A moving piece, that had me contemplating what it means to care for, and be a mother—and the complexities that entails.
On my TBR
One Thousand Years of Solitude
Radical Compassion by Tara Brach
The Story of a Self: The seductive dangers of self-mythologizing
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Hi, I’m Hannah!
I'm a writer & creative mentor based in the UK, a regular writing contributor to the transformational learning platform, Advaya, and work within the climate space focusing on fostering resilience amongst young people. I’m also a student of Zen Buddhism, an avid reader, and a lover of the natural world.
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