Notes from the Henhouse: From the author of O CALEDONIA, a delightful springtime read full of pigs, ponds and fresh air
Elspeth Barker
Nov 2023 · Weidenfeld & Nicolson · Narrated by Raffaella Barker
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5 hr 39 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
'This book is heaven. Elspeth Barker writes like no one else'
OLIVIA LAING
'Deserves to be permanently on the bedside table - to cheer, reassure and inspire'
OBSERVER
'Gothic, poetic and exuberantly funny. What a pleasure it was to read'
ESTHER FREUD
'Joyous, startling, funny, lush, dark and complex'
THE TIMES
In Notes from the Henhouse, you will find:
A Gothic castle, a draughty Norfolk farmhouse and a malevolent Aga
A pet pig, Portia with a penchant for drama, an obsession with geraniums and an addiction to wine (the Bulgarian vintage)
George Barker, poet and beloved husband, warbling cowboy songs into his glass and declaiming Hopkins and Houseman in The Drinking Room
Five entrancing baby cherubimos, rolling and bouncing about in a big brass bed, before growing up at breakneck speed
The ecstasy of writing, the dither of procrastination, and the endless adventures to be had in the wild realms of the imagination
The outrage of death, the loneliness of widowhood, and then the surprising joys of dereliction: of moving very slowly round the garden in a shapeless coat, planting drifts of narcissus bulbs for latter springs.
This collection of autobiographical essays from the inimitable Elspeth Barker, author of the beloved modern classic O Caledonia, is a delightful portrait of a riotous, rapturous, remarkable life.
OLIVIA LAING
'Deserves to be permanently on the bedside table - to cheer, reassure and inspire'
OBSERVER
'Gothic, poetic and exuberantly funny. What a pleasure it was to read'
ESTHER FREUD
'Joyous, startling, funny, lush, dark and complex'
THE TIMES
In Notes from the Henhouse, you will find:
A Gothic castle, a draughty Norfolk farmhouse and a malevolent Aga
A pet pig, Portia with a penchant for drama, an obsession with geraniums and an addiction to wine (the Bulgarian vintage)
George Barker, poet and beloved husband, warbling cowboy songs into his glass and declaiming Hopkins and Houseman in The Drinking Room
Five entrancing baby cherubimos, rolling and bouncing about in a big brass bed, before growing up at breakneck speed
The ecstasy of writing, the dither of procrastination, and the endless adventures to be had in the wild realms of the imagination
The outrage of death, the loneliness of widowhood, and then the surprising joys of dereliction: of moving very slowly round the garden in a shapeless coat, planting drifts of narcissus bulbs for latter springs.
This collection of autobiographical essays from the inimitable Elspeth Barker, author of the beloved modern classic O Caledonia, is a delightful portrait of a riotous, rapturous, remarkable life.
About the author
Elspeth Barker was the author of O Caledonia, a novel hailed as a 'sparky, funny work of genius' (Ali Smith). She taught Latin at what she described as 'a naughty girls' school' on the Norfolk coast and worked as a tutor and lecturer in creative writing at the Norwich School of Art and Design. She wrote for the Independent, the Observer, the Sunday Times and the London Review of Books. Elspeth was married to the poet George Barker. She died in 2022.
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