Remember The Rowan

'Gavin has not
married me in church with stained glass saints looking down in judgement and me
wearing shop-bought jewellery that will soon become tarnished. He has not
married me on paper, inking out scribbled signatures as if I am a woman to
acquire on hire purchase and he a man too busy read the fine print. He has
married me with all of this: a marriage of minds and souls, conceived in the
beating heart of nature where we share one consciousness and one calling. One
otter, most important of all. Instead of white lace, we have rowan blossom.
Instead of pungent florist bouquets, we have a flourishing carpet of
wildflowers.'

'If hate were love, if love
were hate, it could not make our tale untold

Divorced and living apart from her two children as she strives
against the odds to carve out a career in 1940s London, poet Kathleen Raine is
initially unimpressed when she meets Gavin Maxwell, a would-be portrait painter
struggling to recover from a recent breakdown. Nevertheless, the pair soon bond
over childhood memories and a profound love of nature, epitomised by a
mysterious vision they share of a rowan tree.





When Gavin confides that he is
'more of a man's man', Kathleen remains determined that their connection can
survive. They share a cottage in the wildest reaches of the West Highlands,
where they care for Gavin's beloved pet otter Mij and for each other. But when
tragedy strikes, love soon turns to hate, and Kathleen finds herself being
written out of her own life.



Inspired by the true story of
Kathleen Raine and Gavin Maxwell's 'some-requited' love, Remember the
Rowan illuminates
their extraordinary relationship and shines a light on the woman behind Ring of Bright Water.



Despite the hardships Kathleen faced in her relationship with
Gavin, she went on to become a well-respected and successful poet.