Thunderstone

WINNER OF THE ACKERLEY PRIZE 2023 ‘Here is a writer who knows better than most of us how to live.’ Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings ‘There is just one object I want to carry inside the van... It was believed lightning would not strike a house that held a thunderstone. I place this fossil on the windowsill, its surface gleaming like cat’s eyes ahead of me on a dark road.' In the wake of a traumatic lockdown, Nancy Campbell buys an old caravan and drives it into a strip of neglected woodland between a canal and railway. There is no plumbed water and no electricity point in the wilds beyond its eggshell walls. As summer begins, Nancy embraces the challenge of how to live well in this unconventional place. But when illness and uncertainty loom once more, she must discover a way to hold on to beauty and wonder, to anchor herself in this safe space - her shelter from the storm.

‘The most thoughtful and soothing book I’ve read this year.’ Daily Mail ‘A beautiful and often very funny account of hope and healing in the face of illness and uncertainty.’ TLS ‘How to find beauty and wonder even in the most trying of circumstances’ The Scotsman ‘An uplifting, heart-filled read full of hope and love.’ Lulah Ellender, author of Grounding