To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface

Laing, Olivia

ISBN 10: 1982664088 ISBN 13: 9781982664084

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, 2019

Synopsis

Over sixty years after Virginia Woolf drowned in the River Ouse, Olivia Laing set out one midsummer morning to walk its banks, from source to sea. Along the way, she explores the roles that rivers play in human lives, tracing their intricate flow through literature, mythology, and folklore.

Lyrical and stirring, To the River is a passionate investigation into how history resides in a landscape--and how ghosts never quite leave the places they love.

About this title

About the Author

Olivia Laing's first book, To the River, was published to wide acclaim and short-listed for the Ondaatje Prize and the Dolman Travel Book of the Year. She has been the deputy books editor of the Observer, and writes for the Guardian, New Statesman, and Granta, among other publications. In 2018 she was awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for nonfiction.

Review

"Olivia Laing joins the best nature writers...Laing is a brilliant wordsmith and this is a beautifully accomplished book."

-- "Independent (London)"

"A beautifully written meditation on landscape."

-- "Sunday Times (London)"

"By turns lyrical, melancholic and exultant, To the River just makes you want to follow Olivia Laing all the way to the sea."

-- "Daily Telegraph (London)"

"Laing's language is supple and saturated, bright and dappled in this gracefully meandering river of words and deeply pleasurable journey across Woolf's tidal world and the many-storied English countryside."

-- "Booklist"

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1982664088
• ISBN 13: 9781982664084
• Binding: Audio CD