'Most works of mountain literature are written by men, and most of them focus on the goal of the summit.  Nan Shepherd's aimless, sensual exploration of the Cairngorms is bracingly different.' - Robert Macfarlane

In this masterpiece of nature writing, Nan Shepherd describes her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. There she encounters a world that can be breathtakingly beautiful at times and shockingly harsh at others.

Her intense, poetic prose explores and records the rocks, rivers, creatures and hidden aspects of this remarkable landscape. Shepherd spent a lifetime in search of the 'essential nature' of the Cairngorms; her quest led her to write this classic meditation on the magnificence of mountains, and on our imaginative relationship with the wild world around us.

Composed during the Second World War, the manuscript of The Living Mountain lay untouched for more than thirty years before it was finally published.

Why Novel North Recommends

‘An inspiration to engage with the majesty and intricacies of the natural world. Nan Shepherd’s writing is evocative and observed, taking us with her to peaks, inlets and glass like surfaces.  It’s a nourishing read, capturing the vibrancy of seasons, even in the seemingly dreariest of moments.  An invitation to pause.’

Author : Nan Shepherd

Edition : Canongate, Paperback, 114 pages

ISBN : 9780857861832

'By speaking of greater forces than we can possibly invoke, and by confronting us with greater spans of time than we can possibly envisage, mountains refute our excessive trust in the man-made. They pose profound questions about our durability and the importance of our schemes. They induce, I suppose, a modesty in us.' - Robert Macfarlane

Enchanting and transporting.  Mountains of the Mind engages all senses, inspiring awe and wonder through Macfarlane's wonderfully observed perceptions.  Challenges both mind and physical self.

Author : Robert Macfarlane

Edition : Granta, Paperback, 320 pages

ISBN : 9781847080394

"And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer,
as here translated:
I am the poem of earth..."
- Walt Whitman, The Voice of the Rain

An evocative meditation on the English landscape in wet weather by the acclaimed novelist and nature writer, Melissa Harrison.

Whenever rain falls, our countryside changes. Fields, farms, hills and hedgerows appear altered, the wildlife behaves differently, and over time the terrain itself is transformed.

In Rain, Melissa Harrison explores our relationship with the weather as she follows the course of four rain showers, in four seasons, across Wicken Fen, Shropshire, the Darent Valley and Dartmoor.

Blending these expeditions with reading, research, memory and imagination, she reveals how rain is not just an essential element of the world around us, but a key part of our own identity too.

Author : Melissa Harrison

Edition : Faber & Faber Paperback, 128 pages

ISBN : 9780571328949

"There, in a landscape empty of the human, off the bottom of all the maps I had known as a child, I found the perfect place to read..."

WINNER OF THE SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2013
Shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Biography Prize
Shortlisted for the 2013 RSL Ondaatje Prize
Shortlisted for Banff Adventure Travel Prize
Shortlisted for Saltire Book of the Year Award

A book embodying adventure.  Filled with wonder, awe and much reflection.  Gavin Francis beautifully captures the beauty and silence of solitude and isolation in one of the remotest places on Earth.

Author : Gavin Francis

Edition : Vintage, Paperback, 250 pages

ISBN : 9780099565963

Weight: 266g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 20mm