Search results for ""Author Marc Hamer""

An inspiring and life-affirming story of a difficult childhood transformed into happy adulthood through the power of nature and gardensBeloved author Marc Hamer writes about finding refuge in his tiny back garden in this highly original story of childhood, old age, and the restorative power of gardens. As a child, he kindled a deep love of the earth by watching plants and insects and exploring the world through a stack of old encyclopaedias he found in the shed. Now an old man, he creates a garden for himself in the neglected plot behind his house.A little book with a big heart: the insights glow as vivid as a flowerbed. If you want to be inspired, or you've lost your belief in the goodness of this world, this could be for you.'A sublime meditation on life, love, nature and family, woven with the wisdom gained through a life well lived' Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell'Patterned with Hamer's gifts for observation, compression, and tone' New Yorker'Rich and tender' New York Times'A book of great but tender power' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast

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A captivating, life-affirming memoir of a life in nature that celebrates finding wonder in our world. 'A wonderful book... It has taught me a lot. I feel great love for it' MAX PORTERAt the age of sixteen, Marc Hamer left home with only a rucksack and started walking. By day, he observed the animals and birds. By night, he slept under hedges, in woodlands and on riverbanks. It was the beginning of a life in nature.Years later, now working as a gardener and mole-catcher in the Welsh countryside, Marc tells of the experiences that have shaped him and of the wonders that he encounters each day. He considers, too, the fascinating ways of the mole and the myths that surround this curious creature.This beautiful, meditative book explores what nature can teach us about ourselves and our search for contentment. It is a celebration of living peacefully and finding joy in the world around us.'It is rare to encounter such respect and understanding of nature' Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows** Longlisted for The Wainwright Prize 2019 **(Published in hardback as How to Catch a Mole)

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From the beloved author of How to Catch a Mole and Seed to Dust comes a highly original memoir about the joy and restorative power of your own garden.The perfect gift for the gardener in your life, Spring Rain is “a tonic for the soul” (Sy Montgomery).“In the last volume of his memoir trilogy, Marc Hamer explains why a garden is not just a place of work—it's also a place of worship.”—Margaret Roach, New York TimesBest enjoyed in a single sitting under the shade of a tree, this inventive and curative book captures the moment when an adventurous young boy who traveled the world in his mind meets the old man he becomes. Together, they build a new garden from a neglected plot behind his house on the edge of town.Retired professional gardener Marc Hamer has always found the answers to life's questions in the natural world, whether as a child watching ants, as a young man living homeless in the countryside, or as a professional gardener creating places of calm and restoration for others. Now in his sixties, he is finally creating a garden for himself, at his home in Cardiff, Wales. This moving memoir follows his process as he shares what he's learned, from the spring of youth to his autumn years, and reflects on how we reconcile our childhoods with where we end up.In Hamer's own words, "Spring Rain is about the joy of your own back garden. It is a story about the joy of small things, the world in a grain of sand, a universe in a small garden, with love for all the insects and slugs and flowers and weeds and seeds and roots and boundaries and shade and weather that the garden contains."

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'Infused with wisdom and a deep love of nature... a how-to book for finding peace of mind' SagaThis is a story about the rain, a boy, an angry dog and a gardener, and how some of them find peace and freedom...In Spring Rain, writer and gardener Marc Hamer shares his path from difficult beginnings to contentment, by way of family gardens.As a young boy in a violent home, Marc found refuge in his small back garden. Here he kindled a lifelong love of nature and learning by observing the plants and insects in his private kingdom and reading the old encyclopaedias he found in the shed.Marc has always found the answers to life's questions in the natural world, whether as a child watching ants, as a young man living rough in the countryside, or as a professional gardener creating places of calm and restoration for others. Now in his sixties, he is finally creating a garden for himself, at his home in Cardiff. In this beautiful and moving memoir, he considers what he has learned, from the spring of youth to his autumn years, and reflects on how we reconcile our childhoods with where we end up.With line drawings by the author, Spring Rain encourages us back in tune with the natural world and offers both consolation and a guide to a happier life.PRAISE FOR MARC HAMER:'Wisdom...patterned with Hamer's gifts for observation, compression, and tone' New Yorker'A sublime meditation on life, love, nature and family, woven with the wisdom of age gained through a life well lived' Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell'Wholly original... on how to live, how to be calm and content with only a little, in a quietly humming garden' Daily Mail

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*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2021* 'A wholly original, semi-autobiographical book on how to live, how to be calm and content with only a little, in a quietly humming garden' Daily MailBeautifully illustrated, Seed to Dust is a reflective and restorative account of a life lived in harmony with nature. Marc Hamer has nurtured the same twelve acres of garden for decades. It's rarely visited so he is the only person who fully knows its secrets. But it's not his garden, and his relationship with its owner is at once distant and curiously intimate. In Seed to Dust, Marc takes us month-by-month through his experiences both working in the garden and outside it. We encounter new plants and wildlife, gardening folklore and the joys of manual work; we learn, too, about Marc's path from homelessness to family contentment, and the cycles of change that run through both the garden's life and our own.'An absorbing combination of memoir, gardening folklore and natural history' Country Life'Life-affirming... Absorbing' Sue Stuart-Smith, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Well-Gardened Mind

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