- Title:
-
The Fish Ladder: A Journey Upstream (MP3)
- Written by:
-
Katharine Norbury
- Read by:
-
Katharine Norbury
- Format:
-
Unabridged MP3 CD Audio Book
- Number of CDs:
-
1
- Duration:
-
7 hours 41 minutes
- MP3 size:
-
334 MB
- Published:
-
September 01 2015
- Available Date:
-
September 01 2015
- Age Category:
-
Adult
- ISBN:
-
9781489052049
- Genres:
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Non-fiction; Memoirs
- Publisher:
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Bolinda audio
Qty
Format
Price
Bolinda price
'What a delight! The Fish Ladder is a luminous sort of book, beautifully written, darting here and there like a kingfisher over a stream. A beautiful, strange, intoxicating and utterly unique story.'
Phillip Pullman, award winning author of His Dark Materials series
Part travelogue, part memoir, this deeply moving story of self-discovery – told through journeys on foot along the glittering rivers of Britain – is nature writing at its finest and destined to be a classic of memoir.
Katharine Norbury was abandoned as a baby in a Liverpool convent. Raised by loving adoptive parents, she grew into a wanderer, drawn by the beauty of the British countryside.
One summer, following the miscarriage of a much-longed-for child, Katharine sets out – accompanied by her nine-year-old daughter, Evie – with the idea of following a river from the sea to its source. The luminously observed landscape provides both a constant and a context to their expeditions. But what begins as a diversion from grief soon evolves into a journey to the source of life itself, when a chance circumstance forces Katharine to the door of the woman who gave her up all those years ago.
Combining travelogue, memoir, exquisite nature writing, fragments of poetry and tales from Celtic mythology, The Fish Ladder has a rare emotional resonance. A portrait of motherhood, of a literary marriage and a hymn to the adoptive family, this captivating story of self-discovery is, most of all, an exploration of the extraordinary majesty of the natural world. Imbued with a keen and joyful intelligence, this original and life-affirming book is set to become a classic of its genre.
'Skilfully crafted memoir. A deeply human story that is by turns dramatic, moving and beautifully written. It's a book about both nature and personal tragedy, but it's also about the way the green and healing world around us restores the grieving soul. Norbury is an immensely assured writer, and it is astonishing to reflect that this is her first book.'
The Mail on Sunday
'Part of the book's charm, and its eventual magic, comes from watching a writer find her voice, and from following a seemingly directionless search as it discovers focus, coalescence, and, eventually, wonder. The ending is reached through twists of emotion that made me cry. The memoirist's challenge, as I was once told while struggling with one, is simple: "Give a true account of yourself". The Fish Ladder accomplishes this brilliantly.'
The Sunday Telegraph
'A beguiling amalgam of personal anecdote, travelogue and family history . Norbury attains a wonder-struck prose poetry.'
The Independent
'In places, Norbury's writing achieves a lovely unobtrusive merging of emotion and description, so that the landscape reveals her feelings and in doing so shares her burden.'
The Guardian