Smiling at grief in house in a forest where life grows — Jan Fortune
ISBN: 9781911540250
£14.99
Beyond the end of the world, where is life to be found?
Summer Solstice 2065 and, awake before dawn, Viola knows that all her ghosts are with her as she sets off into the forest to forage the last of the ingredients for the Solstice feast that falls on her 40th birthday and on the birthday of Isabelle, the oldest member of the tiny hamlet at 93.
It’s sixteen years since the pandemic that wiped out huge swathes of humanity only to be followed by the collapse of the structures of daily life that once seemed unassailable. Tucked away in the forest, the inhabitants of Restidiou Vras have their herbalist, Viola; they have skills and animals, homes and loved ones. But they carry their ghosts into an increasingly uncertain future and, as the inhabitants of the surviving twelve households gather for the longest day, they bring stories of loss, their resentments and fears, their hopes and secrets. Thirty-three adults and eleven children who know that a single day can change everything.
But in the forest, the humans are not the only voices. The trees and plants have their own stories of loss and resurrection, of abuse and forgiveness, of another way of living.
A richly layered narrative that moves from stream of consciousness to immersive insights into what we mean by a life well-lived, whether human or non-human, smiling at grief in a house in a forest where life grows, weaves a powerful story of change and hope in uncertain times. An inventive, linguistically daring and deeply moving novel.
Praise for the novel:
Deeply rooted and grounded in a loving respect for our living earth and her healing medicines, this heartfelt story weaves magical rhythmic wordspells in a web of vibrant prose. A superb and nurturing work of love, hope and reconnection.
Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, author of Yoni Shakti, Yoga Nidra Made Easy
Jan’s newest work invites you into an embodied journey through the colors of grief while reconnecting to the natural world. Reading this book is a healing act in its own right.
Yoli Maya Yeh, Therapist, Educator & Activist
Jan Fortune’s new novel is an intriguing exploration of our human connection to the earth and to each other. In a future that feels like the past, a group of forest dwellers grows beyond the trauma of social and environmental collapse, to find wisdom not only through each other but through the plant life that surrounds them. While bleakly prophetic, the novel holds out the possibility of redemption through nature, in human stories interwoven with the subtle scents and secrets of the herbalist’s knowledge, lore, and craft. A book to savour for its wide botanical erudition and wise heart.
Catherine Coldstream, author of Cloistered: My Years as a Nun
Watch this two minute video on the book proofs:
And this one sharing the opening pages of the book:
Author biography
Jan Fortune is a writer, mentor, yoga nidra teacher and herbalist living in a forest in Finistère. She has a doctorate in feminist theology and is the founding editor of Cinnamon Press. Jan has taught writing courses across Europe. Her previous publications include creative non-fiction on the alchemy of writing, poetry collections and novels, most recently At world’s end, begin and Saoirse’s Crossing. Jan writes at the intersection of story, poetry, herbalism and alchemy. You can follow her on Substack @ https://substack.com/@janelisabeth and she blogs and runs the writing community, ‘Kith: for a different story’ @ https://janfortune.com/