Next to Nature: A Lifetime in the English Countryside - Ronald Blythe

Ronald Blythe lived at the end of an overgrown farm track deep in the rolling countryside of the Stour Valley, on the border between Suffolk and Essex. His home was Bottengoms Farm, a sturdy yeoman's house once owned by the artist John Nash. From here, Blythe spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church calendar and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries.

Beginning with the arrival of snow on New Year's Day and ending with Christmas carols sung in the village church, Next to Nature invites us to witness a simply life richly lived. With gentle wit and deep appreciation, Blythe mediates on his life and faith, on literature, art and history, and on our place in the landscape. 

It is a celebration of one of the greatest nature writers, and an unforgettable ode to the English countryside.

Reviews:

'My favourite read of the year. I do not know of another work that lets you so directly into another person's mind and memory... a warm, funny and moving nature memoir. I learnt something from every page. John Carey, Sunday Times

'A capacious book that contains multitudes... a work to amble through, seasonally, relishing the vivid dashes of colour, and the precision and delicacy of the descriptions' Ariane Bankes, The Spectator

'The finest contemporary writer on the English countryside... Next to Nature dances with self-deprecating wit, rebellious asides, sharp portraits of fellow writers and notes of worldliness' Patrick Barkham, Guardian 

'A perfect introduction to the great writer of country life' Susan Hill, Daily Telegraph 

Publishers: John Murray Press

ISBN: 9781399804691

Pages: 480

Weight: 384g

Dimensions: 129 x 197 x 33 mm