Shortlisted for theBoardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature
MEDIA REVIEWS
Elemental,fierce and full of wonder,the Cairngorm mountains are the high and rocky heart of Scotland. To know them would take forever,to love them demands a kind of courageous surrender.
In The Hidden Fires,Merryn Glover undertakes that challenge with Nan Shepherd as companion and guiding light. Following in the footsteps and contours of The Living Mountain,she explores the same landscapes and themes as Shepherd's seminal work. This is a journey separated by time but unified by space and purpose,a conversation between two women across nearly a century that explores how entering the life of a mountain can illuminate our own.
An Australian who grew up in the Himalayas,her early experiences of the Scottish hills and weather left her cold. But gradually acclimatising and with an approach like Shepherd's,that is more mountain wandering than mountaineering,she discovers the spark that sets the hills and herself on fire. Through Glover's deepening encounter,the wild majesty and iridescence of the Cairngorms is revealed in this beautiful evocation of landscape,place and identity.
'Merryn Glover'sThe Hidden Firesis not just brave,it is remarkable'-Sir John Lister-Kaye
Publisher: Birlinn GeneralISBN: 9781846975998Weight: 215 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 18 mmEdition: New in Paperback
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Inspired by The Living Mountain,this book will sit comfortably and deservedly on the same shelf as Nan Shepherd's masterpiece'
'A dazzling adventure into mountain,place and time. Redolent with the presence of Nan Shepherd,this book will captivate lovers ofThe Living Mountain'
'The Hidden Fires is a book about homecoming and homemaking,of noticing and belonging. It is a joyous celebration of the process of finding yourself'
'Only rarely does one read a book whose quality of distinction is immediately apparent from the first page; Merryn Glover's The Hidden Fires is not just brave,it is remarkable. Her writing comes at you out of the rock; it recalls some splendid cave painting,telling as much of man as of beast and leaving us in awe of each'
'A meditation on both Nan Shepherd's classic book and on what the mountains mean to them both...the discoveries she makes as she follows in Shepherd'Cairngorms footsteps have a freshness about them. There's magic and mysticism in the mix too'
'a deeply personal account of Glover's love for the landscape'
'A truly inspiring and beautiful book about the Cairngorm mountains,our natural world,and beyond...a rare beauty,where the place and sense of self is revealed and celebrated in all its blazing glory and wonder'
'Glover crafts an evocative and immersive slice of travel writing about how the beauty and grandeur of the Cairngorms spoke to her soul'
'Glover muses on the late legendary poet's thoughts and experiences whilst on her own transformative journey in a pilgrimage that is touching,elemental,brave and deeply affecting'
'An admirable and enjoyable book,well-written,good humoured and informative'
'Evocative writing... brings alive the joys and hidden spirituality that a trip to the Scottish hills can bring'
'A very special book...on all accounts,it entertains,educates,and fascinates'
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