Water and Sky: Voices from the Riverside - Hardcover

Sentance, Neil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 190821323X ISBN 13: 9781908213235

Publisher: Little Toller Books, 2014

Synopsis

Neil Sentance revisits his native Lincolnshire riverlands and fields, farms and market towns, to explore the history of his family and the landscape which shaped them. But this is not a lament for a lost world. Peopled by characters forgotten by history, it celebrates the countryside with a rare combination of lyricism and muddy realism.

About this title

About the Author:

Neil Sentance was born in Lincolnshire in 1969. He now lives in west Dorset with his wife and two children. A regular contributor to Caught by the River, Water and Sky is his first book.

Review:

"A marvellous and haunting sequence ... It is wonderful to read such experiment of voice, tone and vision." ROBERT MACFARLANE "The lyricism of Sentance's scenes of rural life is at times reminiscent of Ronald Blythe; the figures that step into these vignettes are etched with the same respectful and gritty elegance, their voices are quiet, tough and honest." TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT "The river is a perfect wet and sinuous thread to tie this very engaging book together, as well as a perfect metaphor for its deeper yet subtle intentions. It would be difficult to over praise it, except that shouting loudly and enthusiastically would seem crass in its company and counter to its lovely mellow, yet unsentimental tone that lights it from within." --Tim Dee

Sentance's collection of essays, a combination of family history, memoir, and natural history, originally appeared on the Caught by the River website between 2010 and 2013. Sharing the history of the lives of his relatives as well as his own experience, the author documents a vanishing milieu by chronicling the changes that have occurred in the Lincolnshire river lands surrounding the river Witham from 1919 to 1995. Providing details of everything from family members' childhoods and his grandfather's bonfires to exploring the family farm as a child and its sale when he was older, Sentance lyrically describes the landscape and the people who made their living in the area surrounding the river. VERDICT This slim, beautifully written book is a thought-provoking exploration of times past that will appeal to readers who want to learn about the history of this small section of England or are interested in how progress alters a community. --Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Little Toller Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 190821323X
• ISBN 13: 9781908213235
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 80