*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE* Set in the valley of the Mesta one of the oldest
inhabited river valleys in Europe and a nexus for wild plant gatherers Elixir is an
unforgettable exploration of the deep connections between people plants and placePre-order
Kapka Kassabova's new book Anima: A Wild Pastoral now 'Dark and mysterious and beautiful'
FINANCIAL TIMES 'Alchemical prose... She had me under her spell' GUARDIAN *BOOK OF THE DAY*
Over several seasons Kassabova spends time with the people of this magical region. She meets
women and men who work in a long lineage of foragers healers and mystics. She learns about
wild plants and the ancient practice of herbalism and experiences a symbiotic system where
nature and culture have blended for thousands of years. Through her captivating encounters we
come to feel the devastating weight of the ecological and cultural disinheritance that the
people of this valley have suffered. Yet in her search for elixir she also finds reasons for
hope. The people of the valley are keepers of a rare knowledge not only of mountain plants and
their properties but also of how to transform collective suffering into healing. Immersive and
enthralling at its heart Elixir is a search for a cure to what ails us in the Anthropocene. It
is an urgent call to rethink how we live - in relation to one another to the Earth and to the
cosmos.
