The Light in the Dark: A Winter Journal
Description
As November stubs out the glow of autumn and the days tighten into shorter hours, winter’s occupation begins. Preparing for winter has its own rhythms, as old as our exchanges with the land. Of all the seasons, it draws us together. But winter can be tough. It is a time of introspection, of looking inwards. Seasonal sadness; winter blues; depression—such feelings are widespread in the darker months. But by looking outwards, by being in and observing nature, we can appreciate its rhythms. Mountains make sense in any weather. The voices of a wood always speak consolation. A brush of frost; subtle colors; days as bright as a magpie’s cackle. We can learn to see and celebrate winter in all its shadows and lights. In this moving and lyrical evocation of a British winter and the feelings it inspires, Horatio Clare raises a torch against the darkness, illuminating the blackest corners of the season, and delving into memory and myth to explore the powerful hold that winter has on us. By learning to see, we can find the magic, the light that burns bright at the heart of winter: spring will come again.
Praise for The Light in the Dark: A Winter Journal
"A treasure of a book, wonderfully attentive in outlook and generous in spirit." —Amy Liptrot, author, The Outrun
"The natural world has life and light on even the coldest darkest days of winter and that is Clare’s salvation." —Daily Mail
"Magical, moving and deeply atmospheric." —Guardian
"Enchanting." --Emma Mitchell, author, The Wild Remedy
T"his sensuous evocation of winter darkness is a startlingly honest escape from seasonal depression. Horatio Clare beams through his own despair by exposing the intimacy of family love in the fiercely shafting light of his glittering prose." --John Lister-Kaye, author, Gods of the Morning
"Cosy as a log fire, bracing as a moorland squall . . . a potential life-saver for those of us who – like Clare himself – are wont to enter a state of low morale come November . . . When the mercury plummets, forget hygge, save on scented candles, and read this instead." --Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller
"The lushness of his prose offers a striking contrast with the stark lineaments of the winter landscape, both physical and spiritual." --Jane Shilling, Evening Standard
"This is a very powerful book indeed …. Supremely wellwritten… Clare is a brilliantly inventive prose stylist, and some of his descriptive writing here is so good it makes you stop and smile and immediately read it again." -- Roger Cox, The Scotsman
"‘Thoughtful, careful writing that speaks from the heart . . . ideal for curling up with during the darker days, especially if you suffer at all from the winter blues . . . This is a quiet celebration of life." --New Welsh Review
"In graceful, lyrical prose, the author recounts, in diary form, his descent into darkness, at the same time evoking vibrantly the sparkling wintry landscapes of Wales. . . . The contrast of natural beauty and inner turmoil makes Clare's "heaviness of spirit" palpable. . . . A candid memoir of an affliction many readers may share." —Kirkus Reviews
"A testament to the challenges of the season and a declaration of hope that people are made better for having learned winter’s hard, but necessary, lessons." —Foreword Reviews
