Kirjahaku

"A luscious novel . . . Helen] Humphreys offers a fresh view of a philosopher thought of as a loner, depicting his family home as a place for communion and companionship . . . This is Thoreau as he really lived." --Hillary Kelly, The AtlanticA novel as wise as it is tender, a meditation on the miracle of friendship and the heartbreak of change, Followed by the Lark inhabits the life of Henry David Thoreau.Henry felt his pulse quickening with the lengthening days and the return of the birds, with the leafing out of the trees and the whir of the poplars, the trembling song of the frogs in the marsh. We mark time and make our mark on the earth, even as everything around us is shifting and growing, and soon enough these marks will disappear. Friendship comes and reorients us to the horizon; loss comes and stretches out into loneliness. Henry measured and recorded the temperature on and around Walden Pond across the seasons. He built a cabin on its banks and lived there mostly alone--for two years, two months, and two days. He took long walks, floated down rivers with his brother, lost that brother and a friend when they were both still young, read and wrote books, left for the city and came back, heard the romantic whistle of the train transform into the clanging disruption of industry and the destruction of forests hundreds of years grown, watched a young nation rush toward conflict, helped refugees find their next stop on the road to freedom. Inspired by the life, letters, and diaries of Henry David Thoreau, Followed by the Lark shows how strikingly similar the concerns of the early nineteenth century are to our own, and reminds us to listen for news of change: the song of spring's first bluebird, reports from those who have heard it, and all the sounds and fearful wonders that come after.

This word-perfect, heartbreaking novel is set in early 1941 in Britain when the war seems endless and, perhaps, hopeless. London is on fire from the Blitz, and a young woman gardener named Gwen Davis flees from the burning city for the Devon countryside. She has volunteered for the Land Army, and is to be in charge of a group of young girls who will be trained to plant food crops on an old country estate where the gardens have fallen into ruin. Also on the estate, waiting to be posted, is a regiment of Canadian soldiers. For three months, the young women and men will form attachments, living in a temporary rural escape. No one will be more changed by the stay than Gwen. She will inspire the girls to restore the estate gardens, fall in love with a soldier, find her first deep friendship, and bring a lost garden, created for a great love, back to life. While doing so, she will finally come to know herself and a life worth living. Reading group guide included.

Leaving Earth was Humphreys' debut, and it brought the beauty of her poetry into the story of two women's love of flight and dream to excel, even if it took all their courage and strength and even their lives.

When her dog joins a feral pack after being abandoned by her boyfriend, Alice and five companions gather in the evenings by the edge of a forest, trying to call the dogs back into domesticity, in a tale that traces the experiences of each former dog owner and finds Alice moving to a cabin and falling in love with a wildlife biologist. Reader's Guide included. Reprint.

On the evening of November 14, 1940, Harriet Marsh stands on the roof of the historic Coventry cathedral and marvels at the frost glittering beneath a full moon. But it is a bomber's moon, and the Luftwaffe is coming to unleash destruction on the city. For Harriet; for the young fire watcher, Jeremy, standing beside her; and for his artist mother, Maeve, hiding in a cellar, this single night of horror will resonate for the rest of their lives. Coventry is a testament to the power of the human spirit, an honest and ultimately uplifting account of heartache transformed into compassion and love.

Amid the chaos of World War II, three people find unexpected freedom through their connection to the natural world--from the author of Rabbit Foot Bill.Downed during his first mission, James Hunter is taken captive as a German POW. To bide the time, he studies a nest of redstarts at the edge of camp. Some prisoners plot escape; some are shot. And then, one day, James is called to the Kommandant's office. Meanwhile, back home, James's new wife, Rose, is on her own, free in a way she has never known. Then, James's sister, Enid, loses everything during the Blitz and must seek shelter with Rose. In a cottage near Ashdown forest, the two women jealously guard secrets, but form a surprising friendship. Each of these characters will find unexpected freedom amid war's privations and discover confinements that come with peace. The Evening Chorus is a beautiful, astonishing examination of love, loss, escape, and the ways in which the intrusions of the natural world can save us. "The Evening Chorus serenades people brutally marked by war, yet enduring to live -- and relish -- the tiny pleasures of another day. With her trademark prose -- exquisitely limpid -- Humphreys convinces us of the birdlike strength of the powerless." -- Emma Donoghue"The Evening Chorus sparkles." --Jo Baker "A poised, lyrical novel about the griefs of war, written with poetic intensity of observation." --Helen Dunmore

Set in 1930s Canada, this novel tells the story of Willa and Grace, two female pilots attempting to break the world record for non-stop flight. As they take to the air, the focus shifts to Maddy, a young girl who idolizes the two women whilst fearing for her safety as the Canadian Nazis move in.

This is an exploration of the search for identity and meaning, capturing the tension between the intellectual yearnings and repressed sexuality of the Victorian age. Annie arrives at a wealthy country house to work as a maid. She is startled to find herself in a world where desires are possible.

It's Spring 1941 and London is being destroyed by the Blitz. Gwen Davis, a young horticulturist, leaves the city for the Devon countryside. In charge of a troop of Land Girls, her job is to rebuild the grounds of a neglected estate. The manor is far removed from the fighting but Gwen has her own battles - as she struggles with her shyness and fear of intimacy to create a community among her girls. Gwen meets two people who will change her life. Raley, an officer awaiting posting to the front and Jane, a frail, free spirit whose fiance is missing in action. Through them, and the beautiful garden that she stumbles upon, she finds a flowering of a different sort - her own profound capacity for love, even in the face of pain.

"A luscious novel . . . Helen] Humphreys offers a fresh view of a philosopher thought of as a loner, depicting his family home as a place for communion and companionship . . . This is Thoreau as he really lived." --Hillary Kelly, The AtlanticA novel as wise as it is tender, a meditation on the miracle of friendship and the heartbreak of change, Followed by the Lark inhabits the life of Henry David Thoreau.Henry felt his pulse quickening with the lengthening days and the return of the birds, with the leafing out of the trees and the whir of the poplars, the trembling song of the frogs in the marsh. We mark time and make our mark on the earth, even as everything around us is shifting and growing, and soon enough these marks will disappear. Friendship comes and reorients us to the horizon; loss comes and stretches out into loneliness. Henry measured and recorded the temperature on and around Walden Pond across the seasons. He built a cabin on its banks and lived there mostly alone--for two years, two months, and two days. He took long walks, floated down rivers with his brother, lost that brother and a friend when they were both still young, read and wrote books, left for the city and came back, heard the romantic whistle of the train transform into the clanging disruption of industry and the destruction of forests hundreds of years grown, watched a young nation rush toward conflict, helped refugees find their next stop on the road to freedom. Inspired by the life, letters, and diaries of Henry David Thoreau, Followed by the Lark shows how strikingly similar the concerns of the early nineteenth century are to our own, and reminds us to listen for news of change: the song of spring's first bluebird, reports from those who have heard it, and all the sounds and fearful wonders that come after.

And a Dog Called Fig is the story of one writer's life with dogs (including a frisky new puppy), how they are uniquely ideal companions for building a creative life, and some delightful tales about dogs and their famous writersInto my writer's isolation will come a dog, to sit beside my chair or to lie on the couch while I work, to force me outside for a walk, and suddenly, although still lonely, this writer will have a companion. An artist's solitude is a sacred space, one to be guarded from the chaos of the world, where the sparks of inspiration can be kindled into fires of creation. But within this quiet also lie loneliness, self-doubt, the danger of collapsing too far inward. An artist needs a familiar, a companion with emotional intelligence, innate curiosity, an enthusiasm for the world beyond, but also the capacity to rest contentedly for many hours. What an artist needs, Helen Humphreys would say, is a dog. And a Dog Called Fig is a memoir of the writing life told through the dogs Humphreys has lived with and loved over a lifetime, including Fig, her new Vizsla puppy. Interspersed are stories of other writers and their own irreplaceable companions: Virginia Woolf and Grizzle, Gertrude Stein and Basket, Thomas Hardy and Wessex--who walked the dining table at dinner parties, taking whatever he liked--and many more. A love song to the dogs who come into our lives and all that they bring--sorrow, mayhem, reflection, joy--this is a book about steadfast friendship and loss, creativity and craft, and the restorative powers of nature. Every work of art is different; so too is every dog, with distinctive needs and lessons. And if we let them guide us, they will show us many worlds we would otherwise miss. Includes Black-and-White Photographs

Award-winning and beloved author Helen Humphreys discovers her local herbarium and realizes we need to look for beauty in whatever nature we have left -- no matter how diminished Award-winning poet and novelist Helen Humphreys returns to her series of nature meditations in this gorgeously written and illustrated book that takes a deep look at the forgotten world of herbariums and the people who amassed collections of plant specimens in the 19th and 20th centuries. From Emily Dickinson's and Henry David Thoreau's collections to the amateur naturalists whose names are forgotten but whose collections still grace our world, herbariums are the records of the often-humble plants that are still with us and those that are lost. Over the course of a year, Humphreys considers life and loss and the importance of finding solace in nature. Illustrated throughout with images of herbarium specimens, Humphreys's own botanical drawings, and archival photographs, this will be the perfect gift for Humphreys's many fans, nature enthusiasts, and for all who loved Birds Art Life.