This is another book I recall reading and enjoying, maybe five years ago, without being able to remember its details. ( )

My second book by Laing read to me by Kate Reading - really enjoyed this meandering work. ( )

Virginia Woolf put stones in her pockets and walked into the river. This is the same river that Olivia Lang is walking along. As she does so she tells the stories of the river.

If there is a book that appeals to the woman in you this is it, poetic, erudite and simply amazing. ( )

There are many stories in the book, layered and interwoven, but all centred around the River Ouse that runs from Slaugham to Newhaven through the Sussex Weald. One summer Liang decides to walk the length of it to discover the history, the people that inhabit it, the wildlife and most importantly the sense of place.

This is the river where the great writer Virginia Woolf took her own life in 1941. Liang writes about her life and her troubled health and how she had been suffering from mental health problems for a number of years. Living nearby had offered a glimmer of hope that she might recover, but sadly it was not to be. There is a lot of history in this part of England, and it has been occupied for millennia. It has played its part in pivotal parts of English history too, with a battle taking place between Simon de Montfort and the royal supporters. Some of these are still commemorated today in local festivals. In her walk she also used the time and the progress of the river to lament the breakdown of her relationship with a guy called Matthew. It does not dominate the book, but adds a poignant undertone as she considers what might have been.

Where this book soars though is the eloquent descriptions of the landscape and the wildlife that she sees and experiences on her walk. It is nature writing at its finest. ( )