WATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Enchanting' Telegraph
'Miraculous' Isabella Tree 'Exquisite' FT From the No.1 bestselling author of The
Shepherd's Life an unforgettable story of friendship redemption and a life-changing voyage
of discovery on a remote Norwegian island How far do you have to go to find yourself? One
afternoon many years ago James Rebanks met an old woman on a remote Norwegian island. She
lived and worked alone on a tiny rocky outcrop caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their
down. Hers was a centuries-old trade that had once made men and women rich but had long been
in decline. Still somehow she seemed to be hanging on. Back at home Rebanks couldn't stop
thinking about the woman on the rocks. She was fierce and otherworldly - and yet strangely
familiar. Years passed. Then one day he wrote her a letter asking if he could return. Bring
work clothes she replied and good boots and come quickly: her health was failing. And so he
travelled to the edge of the Arctic to witness her last season on the island. This is the
story of that season. It is the story of a unique and ancient landscape and of the woman who
brought it back to life. It traces the pattern of her work from the rough isolated toil of
bitter winter to the elation of the endless summer light when the birds leave behind their
precious down for gathering like feathered gold. Slowly Rebanks begins to understand that
this woman and her world are not what he had previously thought. What began as a journey of
escape becomes an extraordinary lesson in self-knowledge and forgiveness. *Shortlisted for
the Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year Award*
