The Quarry Wood
Published on 1. August 2009
224 pages
978-1-84767-801-0 (ISBN)
Description
When Martha accepts a place at university, her decision is met with a mixture of hostility and pride by her uncomprehending family. This is the story of a young woman's journey to maturity and independence, struggling to cope with the intellectual and emotional challenges that surround her, at a time when such space was rarely given freely to women.
In The Quarry Wood, Nan Shepherd's subtle prose is matched with intense and memorable descriptions of the natural world, and a dry sense of humour. Ninety years after the first publication, it remains as fresh and original today.
In The Quarry Wood, Nan Shepherd's subtle prose is matched with intense and memorable descriptions of the natural world, and a dry sense of humour. Ninety years after the first publication, it remains as fresh and original today.
Reviews / Votes
A blazingly brilliant writer, a true original -- Robert Macfarlane Spellbinding -- Ali Smith Largely unrecognised during her lifetime, Nan Shepherd is finally being acclaimed for her literary legacy - and her books are influencing a whole new generation of writers * * The Scotsman * * Shepherd found her own path in life and in literature, and it feels like she's so far ahead of us . . . philosophically and stylistically, she was extraordinary * * Guardian * * Brilliant . . . Its conflation of ardent philosophising and blunt everyday speech, rendered in vivid dialect, provides a glorious palette * * The List, 100 Best Scottish Books * * Shepherd is a fierce looker. And like many fierce lookers, she is also a mystic * * Guardian * *More details
Series
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Canongate Books
ISBN-13
978-1-84767-801-0 (9781847678010)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Anna (Nan) Shepherd was born in 1893 and died in 1981. Closely attached to Aberdeen and her native Deeside, she graduated from her home university in 1915 and for the next forty-one years worked as a lecturer in English. An enthusiastic gardener and hill-walker, she made many visits to the Cairngorms with students and friends. She also travelled further afield - to Norway, France, Italy, Greece and South Africa - but always returned to the house where she was raised and where she lived almost all of her adult life, in the village of West Cults, three miles from Aberdeen on North Deeside. To honour her legacy, in 2016, Nan Shepherd's face was added to the Royal Bank of Scotland five-pound note.
Content
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Aunt Josephine Leggatt
- Chapter Two: Crannochie
- Chapter Three: Family Affairs
- Chapter Four: In Which a Latin Version Is Spoilt
- Chapter Five: Luke Comes In
- Chapter Six: Expansion of the World
- Chapter Seven: Sundry Weathers
- Chapter Eight: Leggatt Respectability
- Chapter Nine: Beatrice among the Pots
- Chapter Ten: Dussie Enters on an Affair of Moment
- Chapter Eleven: The Lustre Frock
- Chapter Twelve: Torchlight
- Chapter Thirteen: Crux of a Spiritual Adventure
- Chapter Fourteen: Trouble for Aunt Josephine
- Chapter Fifteen: Roy Rory Foubister
- Chapter Sixteen: The Ironside Brand
- Chapter Seventeen: Martha Flies in a Rage
- Chapter Eighteen: Death of Aunt Josephine
- Chapter Nineteen: The Pillars of Hercules
- Glossary
- About the Author
- Copyright
