This book is heaven. Elspeth Barker writes like no one elseOLIVIA LAINGDeserves to be permanently on the bedside table to cheer, reassure and inspireOBSERVERGothic, poetic and exuberantly funny. What a pleasure it was to readESTHER FREUDJoyous, startling, funny, lush, dark and complexTHE TIMESIn Notes from the Henhouse, you will findA Gothic castle, a draughty Norfolk farmhouse and a malevolent AgaA 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 RoomFive entrancing baby cherubimos, rolling and bouncing about in a big brass bed, before growing up at breakneck speedThe ecstasy of writing, the dither of procrastination, and the endless adventures to be had in the wild realms of the imaginationThe 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.

Binding: Hardback;240 pages; Publisher: Hachette UK Distribution; Classification: DNF; Weight: 458 g; Dimensions: 222 x 142 x 20

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