Notes from the Henhouse : From the author of O CALEDONIA, a book that ‘brings joy to the bleak midwinter’ and the perfect Christmas gift

by Barker, Elspeth

Literature & literary studies

Published 09/11/2023 by Orion Publishing Co (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) in the United Kingdom as part of the W&N Essentials series.

Hardback | 240 pages

In Notes from the Henhouse, you will find:A Gothic castle, a draughty Norfolk farmhouse and a malevolent AgaA pet pig, Portia with a penchant for drama, an obsession with geraniums and an addiction to wine (the Bulgarian vintage)George Barker, poet and beloved husband, warbling cowboy songs into his glass and declaiming Hopkins and Houseman in The Drinking RoomFive entrancing baby cherubimos, rolling and bouncing about in a big brass bed, before growing up at breakneck speedThe ecstasy of writing, the dither of procrastination, and the endless adventures to be had in the wild realms of the imaginationThe outrage of death, the loneliness of widowhood, and then the surprising joys of dereliction: of moving very slowly round the garden in a shapeless coat, planting drifts of narcissus bulbs for latter springs.