Stone Lands
A Journey of Darkness and Light Through Britain's Ancient Places
-
- $19.99
Publisher Description
An enchanting and beautifully illustrated memoir of grief, hope, and love, alongside the joy of exploring ancient landscapes, which uncovers the wonder of Britain's ancient megaliths.
Journeying across Britain, from West Penwith and Avebury to the Lake District and Orkney, Stone Lands uncovers the magic and rich history of Britain's incredible prehistoric standing stones. It conveys the delight that lies in tracking them down, as well as the solace these ancient places offer in times of darkness.
A few months after discovering that her beloved husband, Stephen, had incurable cancer, Fiona Robertson began to write this book. A long-time megalith enthusiast, she found the ancient stones resonated with her more profoundly than ever as she faced the prospect of losing him. Set upright thousands of years ago, the megaliths are symbols of endurance and survival, standing in contrast to our ephemeral human lives. Infused with folklore, legend and mystery, these standing stones enchant the landscape and bring magic to our modern world.
This enthralling memoir is woven delicately around great grief but is ultimately about embracing life, joy and ancient wonder—a luminous reminder of what it means to exist on this earth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Debut author Robertson searches for meaning among ancient stone megaliths in this meandering memoir-cum-travelogue. After her husband was diagnosed with incurable gallbladder cancer when he turned 50, Robertson found solace in revisiting the standing stone formations across Britain and Ireland that had long captivated the pair. Traveling to 14 sites—alone or with her husband and children—Robertson plays detective, contemplating why civilizations, beginning around 4000 BCE, might expend the energy to build such monuments (were they "the prehistoric equivalent of books, the stones encoded with information and stories?... They could have reminded people that they were part of a community with shared ancestors and myths"). She's also part seeker, harboring vague hopes that the formations will heal her husband. Robertson frames the megaliths as a kind of "symbol of survival" amid "the sound and fury of human existence" in ways that are often affecting. Unfortunately, few other insights emerge, resulting in an overlong narrative that fails to provide much in the way of payoff. Emotional import aside, readers will be left wanting. Illus.
