The Raven's Nest

'Fascinating' - Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways

'Truly a thing of wonder' - Kerri ní Dochartaigh, author of Thin Places

'Lyrical [and] thoughtful' - Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment

Visiting Iceland as an anthropologist and film-maker in 2008, Sarah Thomas is spellbound by its otherworldly landscape. An immediate love for this country and for Bjarni, a man she meets there, turns a week-long stay into a transformative half-decade, one which radically alters Sarah's understanding of herself and of the living world.

She embarks on a relationship not only with Bjarni, but with the light, the language, and the old wooden house they make their home. She finds a place where the light of the midwinter full moon reflected by snow can be brighter than daylight, where the earth can tremor at any time, and where the word for echo - bergmál - translates as 'the language of the mountain'. In the midst of crisis both personal and planetary, as her marriage falls apart, Sarah finds inspiration in the artistry of a raven's nest: a home which persists through breaking and reweaving - over and over.

Written in beautifully vivid prose The Raven's Nest is a profoundly moving meditation on place, identity and how we might live in an era of environmental disruption.

Auteur

Sarah Thomas

Texte du rabat

In 2008, on a week-long trip to a film festival in Iceland, Sarah Thomas was spellbound by the strange landscape she found herself in, a place whose midwinter full moon is brighter than daylight, where fierce storms shake iron-clad houses and northern lights pattern the night sky, where the meaning of the word for yes - já - is imbued with ambiguity when spoken on an inbreath. A place in which, and with which, it is possible to think differently.

An immediate love for this country and a man she meets there, Bjarni, turns what was intended to be a short stay into a profoundly transformative half decade, one which radically alters Sarah's understanding of herself and the natural world. As her marriage unravels due to her and Bjarni's struggle to communicate across cultures, they decide to divorce, just as a tremor swarm heralds a major volcanic eruption.

Written in beautifully vivid prose, The Raven's Nest is a profoundly moving meditation on place, identity, and how we might live in an era of environmental disruption.