Burn

Short, Ben

£10.99

On the outside, Ben Short looks like he has it all – a successful career in advertising, a flat in a trendy area of London, an expensive motorbike. But inside, he’s a wreck. Years of suffering with an anxiety disorder and depression have broken him, and his ‘creative’ career has become sterile and suffocating. A drastic change is needed. Like his neighbour’s rescue hawk, he acts on instinct and escapes the city. For a time, he takes on odd jobs – gardening, hedge-laying and labouring in the Cambridgeshire Fens and in the Devon countryside, trying to find somewhere he belongs. That is until he feels the call of the furnace: a glowing charcoal kiln in the West Dorset woods, where he can re-forge his thoughts, put the years of suffering behind him and start afresh by immersing himself in the ancient ways of woods and fire.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 16/02/2023

Description

‘An extraordinary and powerful book, full of vitality. Every page celebrates the way traditional skills can shape who we are’ Tristan Gooley

‘Lyrical, moving and never self-pitying . . . a lovely book’ The Times

Ben Short has a successful career in advertising, a flat in a trendy part of London, a flashy motorbike. But after years of suffering with anxiety, he’s a wreck. A drastic change is needed.

For a time, he finds solace working with a forester, then as an apprentice to a Gypsy woodman, setting up home in a dilapidated wagon with just a rescue dog for company. However, it is not until he feels the call of the furnace, a glowing charcoal kiln in the Dorset woods, that he can truly re-forge his thoughts, put the years of suffering behind him, and start afresh by immersing himself in the old ways of woods and fire.

Exquisitely written and deeply honest, Burn is a hopeful story of transformation, a celebration of manual work and craft, and a love letter to the English countryside.

‘Beautifully written . . . reading it leaves you feeling ruffled but alive’ Mail on Sunday

Additional information

Weight 180 g
Dimensions 196 × 128 × 26 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

256

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

796.5019 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K