{"product_id":"blythe-spirit-the-remarkable-life-of-ronald-blythe-9781399819060","title":"Blythe Spirit: The Remarkable Life of Ronald Blythe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Moving, candid, vivid, it is all that we could hope for in a memoir of this unique and treasured writer' ROWAN WILLIAMS\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An unusually intimate and affectionate portrait' PATRICK BARKHAM, \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'As a boy I dreamed of scholars and saints wandering around markets and cornfields, and of artists and poets sitting under the trees.'\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRonald Blythe (1922-2023), author of the inimitable \u003ci\u003eAkenfield\u003c\/i\u003e, was a prolific and poetic chronicler of rural and spiritual life, nature and literature. He spent a joyful century close to his Suffolk roots, time travelling in his imagination and publishing forty books and thousands of essays. His wide creative network included John and Christine Nash, Cedric Morris, Benjamin Britten, E. M. Forster, Patricia Highsmith and Richard Mabey. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom finding Thomas Hardy in February rain and John Clare in country tracks, to talking to his white cat and reading through a dragonfly's wings, the Blythe gift was to marvel in the everyday. His writing was intimate, meditative and often laced with a wry humour, inviting readers to share his enchanting perspective on the world. Yet few knew the 'real' Ronald Blythe. Leaving school at 14, he educated himself in libraries, churches and walks in the East Anglian landscape. He never spoke about early poverty and traumatic experience in the war, while his sexuality was kept private except from those closest to him. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on unparalleled access to letters, notebooks, published works, drafts, and conversations from decades of friendship, Ian Collins tells the full story of Ronald Blythe for the first time. The result is a sensitive, revelatory portrait which celebrates a fascinating, complex man and casts new light on one of our greatest writers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIan Collins is a writer and curator. He has written numerous biographies and monographs, including the Runciman Award-winning \u003ci\u003eJohn Craxton: A Life of Gifts \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eJames Dodds: The Blue Boat \u003c\/i\u003ewhich won the Creative Suffolk Author Award. He had a long career as an arts writer for the \u003ci\u003eEastern Daily Press \u003c\/i\u003eand has worked with the Aldeburgh Festival, Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, British Museum, Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Benaki Museum in Athens and Meşher Istanbul. He lives in Suffolk and Greece.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"John Murray Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51414731620626,"sku":"9781399819060","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_41eee47d-852a-491f-ad86-23669ca4cf82.jpg?v=1774963728","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/blythe-spirit-the-remarkable-life-of-ronald-blythe-9781399819060","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}