Bøker av Helen Humphreys

A novel as wise as it is tender, a meditation on the miracle of friendship and the heartbreak of change, Followed by the Lark inhabits the life of Henry David Thoreau.Composed in small scenes, Followed by the Lark is a novel of meditations-on loss, on change, on the danger and healing that come from communion with the natural world.Henry David Thoreau's connection to nature was tied to his feelings of grief; before he was twenty-seven years old and went to live at Walden Pond, two of those closest to him had died-his older brother, John, and his friend Charles Wheeler. Nature provided solace for these losses, but the world was changing around him. The forests were being destroyed by the logging industry. Wildlife was increasingly slaughtered for profit and sport. The railroad clanged through his quiet hometown. And the catastrophes of the American Civil War were beginning to stir just as his own life was coming to an end. Haunting in its quiet spaces, in the way it imagines the missed connections in his relationships, Followed by the Lark is uncommon in its combination of scope and brevity, in its communion with its subject while still maintaining critical distance.Thoreau's life in the early nineteenth century seems firmly in the past, but his time bears striking similarities to ours. As she explores these intersections in Followed by the Lark, Helen Humphreys elegantly, insistently illustrates how Thoreau's concerns are still, vitally, our own.

And a Dog Called Fig is the story of one writer's life with dogs (including a frisky new puppy), how they are uniquely ideal companions for building a creative life, and some delightful tales about dogs and their famous writersInto my writer's isolation will come a dog, to sit beside my chair or to lie on the couch while I work, to force me outside for a walk, and suddenly, although still lonely, this writer will have a companion.An artist's solitude is a sacred space, one to be guarded from the chaos of the world, where the sparks of inspiration can be kindled into fires of creation. But within this quiet also lie loneliness, self-doubt, the danger of collapsing too far inward. An artist needs a familiar, a companion with emotional intelligence, innate curiosity, an enthusiasm for the world beyond, but also the capacity to rest contentedly for many hours. What an artist needs, Helen Humphreys would say, is a dog. And a Dog Called Fig is a memoir of the writing life told through the dogs Humphreys has lived with and loved over a lifetime, including Fig, her new Vizsla puppy. Interspersed are stories of other writers and their own irreplaceable companions: Virginia Woolf and Grizzle, Gertrude Stein and Basket, Thomas Hardy and Wessex-who walked the dining table at dinner parties, taking whatever he liked-and many more. A love song to the dogs who come into our lives and all that they bring-sorrow, mayhem, reflection, joy-this is a book about steadfast friendship and loss, creativity and craft, and the restorative powers of nature. Every work of art is different; so too is every dog, with distinctive needs and lessons. And if we let them guide us, they will show us many worlds we would otherwise miss. Includes Black-and-White Photographs

In Field Study, award-winning author Helen Humphreys returns to her brilliant illustrated meditations, this time to delve into the lost world of herbarium collections to examine where and how we look to find the solace of nature in a declining natural world.

Amid the chaos of World War II, three people find unexpected freedom through their connection to the natural world-from the author of Rabbit Foot Bill.Downed during his first mission, James Hunter is taken captive as a German POW. To bide the time, he studies a nest of redstarts at the edge of camp. Some prisoners plot escape; some are shot. And then, one day, James is called to the Kommandant's office. Meanwhile, back home, James's new wife, Rose, is on her own, free in a way she has never known. Then, James's sister, Enid, loses everything during the Blitz and must seek shelter with Rose. In a cottage near Ashdown forest, the two women jealously guard secrets, but form a surprising friendship. Each of these characters will find unexpected freedom amid war's privations and discover confinements that come with peace. The Evening Chorus is a beautiful, astonishing examination of love, loss, escape, and the ways in which the intrusions of the natural world can save us. "The Evening Chorus serenades people brutally marked by war, yet enduring to live - and relish - the tiny pleasures of another day. With her trademark prose - exquisitely limpid - Humphreys convinces us of the birdlike strength of the powerless." - Emma Donoghue"The Evening Chorus sparkles." -Jo Baker "A poised, lyrical novel about the griefs of war, written with poetic intensity of observation." -Helen Dunmore

"A perspective on love and loss [that] will haunt you for days."-Entertainment Weekly

The second novel from the acclaimed Canadian writer Helen Humphreys, author of the prize-winning Leaving Earth and a bestseller in Canada A beautifully crafted and bittersweet coming-of-age story

Set in 1930s Canada, this novel tells the story of Willa and Grace, two female pilots attempting to break the world record for non-stop flight.

An exploration of the search for identity and meaning, capturing the tension between the intellectual yearnings and repressed sexuality of the Victorian age.