A Place In My Country
Author | : Ian Walthew |
Publisher | : Hachette UK |
Total Pages | : 322 |
Release | : 2010-12-30 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780297858027 |
ISBN-13 | : 0297858025 |
Rating | : 4/5 (025 Downloads) |
Download or read book A Place In My Country written by Ian Walthew and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2010-12-30 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chasing memories of the losses of his brother and father, the author, a young newspaper director, and his Australian wife visit the Cotswolds. On a whim they buy a cottage and Ian resigns. They slowly get to know Norman, their inscrutable and apparently terrifying neighbour; Geoff, the ebullient landlord of their eclectic local - last bastion against the encroaching gastropub - and Tom, an ex-gamekeeper, who lets Ian see something of a hidden rural culture. The delightful aspects of village life and an ever-changing landscape is evocatively captured; but it is from working with Norman on his small chaotic farm that they learn about the loss of the countryside to industrial farming and of no-longer affordable housing to the dreaded 'white settlers'. And it is shadows of the past and a seemingly segregated social world around them that begin to cast doubts on whether this is the place for them. This is a gentle lesson in taking time to confront our losses, memories and prejudices to discover a revitalised life in our own country.