In this lyrical and revelatory memoir, Alan Garner, Booker shortlisted author of Treacle Walker, traces the line of his life: from a working-class childhood in the landscape of Cheshire during World War II, through a grammar school education and on to the University of Oxford, and then home to see if he could become what he most desired: a writer.

We see the serendipitous moments that drove his course, from coming-of-age in a period of great cultural change, to crossing paths with a famous mathematician while out long-distance running, to the fateful day he chanced across Blackden, the medieval hall, miraculously located next to the giant telescope at Jodrell Bank, that was to become his lasting home and the setting for Treacle Walker.

‘Advice is practical as well as profound … Garner is a magus. Read him’ Guardian

‘Offers a remarkable window into Garner’s mind and heart … Garner’s prose is as clear as glass’ Spectator

‘A creative manifesto … We are all the richer for it’ Byline Times

‘I salute him with the most heartfelt respect and admiration’ PHILIP PULLMAN

‘Entrancing … a creative manifesto’ TELEGRAPH

‘Mesmerising … vibrating with life and curiosity’ OBSERVER