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lizzillia's review
4.75
Published 9 May 2024. I've never read any Clover Stroud before - and even though I don't usually rea memoirs this piqued my interest. Set in Wiltshire with the Ridgeway, the White Horse and Avebury as characters, this is the author's exploration of the meaning of home. Her husband, Pete, spends a lot of time working in America and he wants Clover to move out their with the children - a request that sends her into almost freefall. In this book she describes beautifully the landscape, the seasons. She gives a real sense of community, what it is like to live in a place where everyone knows you, where everyone looks out for you. She writes movingly of her connection to the landscape where her parents and sister are buried and you can real feel for her dilemma, how can she leave this landscape that means so much to her. Her two eldest children, Jimmy and Dolly are getting ready to start university so to uproot the family will mean leaving two of them in the UK, of separating them. Her writing is gorgeous and this is a deep dive into what home means. I also loved the intimate moments that she shares with the reader - those family moments - the car ride with Jimmy to university and her feelings as she settled him in brought back memories of when we took our son to his university many years ago. I loved meeting the people around her and walking with her on her many excursions to the Ridgeway. As for the giant man - well, I'll leave it to you. A super read full of family, love and landscape.
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