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Notes from the Henhouse
  • ISBN: 9781399612494
  • Pages: 240
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Publisher: Orion

Notes from the Henhouse

Elspeth Barker
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In Notes from the Henhouse, you will find: A Gothic castle, a draughty Norfolk farmhouse and a malevolent Aga, a pet pig, Portia with a penchant for drama, an obsession with geraniums and an addiction to wine (the Bulgarian vintage).

George Barker, poet and beloved husband, warbling cowboy songs into his glass and declaiming Hopkins and Houseman in The Drinking Room Five entrancing baby cherubimos, rolling and bouncing about in a big brass bed, before growing up at breakneck speed. The ecstasy of writing, the dither of procrastination, and the endless adventures to be had in the wild realms of the imagination. The outrage of death, the loneliness of widowhood, and then the surprising joys of dereliction: of moving very slowly round the garden in a shapeless coat, planting drifts of narcissus bulbs for latter springs.

This collection of autobiographical essays from the inimitable Elspeth Barker, author of the beloved modern classic O Caledonia, is a delightful portrait of a riotous, rapturous, remarkable life.

‘This book is heaven. Elspeth Barker writes like no one else.’ Olivia Laing

‘Deserves to be permanently on the bedside table – to cheer, reassure and inspire.’ Observer



Counting My Chickens

My extraordinary mother, the writer Elspeth Barker, died in April 2022. She left this life on a balmy, sunny afternoon, just as if she was wandering down through her garden to the river with her...

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