"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

'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

“This is a story about an eagle huntress, an inventor and an organ made of icicles. But it is also a story about belonging, even at the very edges of our world . . .” 

In the snowy kingdom of Erkenwald, whales glide between icebergs, wolves hunt on the tundra and polar bears roam the glaciers. But the people of this land aren't so easy to find - because Erkenwald is ruled by an evil Ice Queen and the tribes must stay hidden or risk becoming her prisoners at Winterfang Palace.

Join Eska, a girl who breaks free from a cursed music box, and Flint, a boy whose inventions could change the fate of Erkenwald forever, as they journey to the Never Cliffs and beyond in search of an ancient, almost forgotten, song with the power to force the Ice Queen back.

This is a story about an eagle huntress, an inventor and an organ made of icicles. But it is also a story about belonging, even at the very edges of our world...

Why Novel North recommends

'Sky Song has all the elements of adventures I love. The beauty of ice and nature, animals who are characters in themselves, and language that entices and inspires! It’s perfect if you love Narnia and Northern Lights. A magical tale filled with hope and courage, set against a fantastical backdrop of ice, snow and trees. With strong characters and stronger friendships, this quest will keep you thrilled from the very first page!’

Author : Abi Elphinstone

Edition : Simon & Schuster, Paperback, 288 pages

ISBN : 9781471146077

Weight: 2452g
Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 18mm

“One moment several things are possible, the next moment only one happens, and the rest don't exist. Except that other worlds have sprung into being, on which they did happen.” 

It begins with a girl and her daemon

The girl is Lyra Belacqua, an orphan who lives in a place like, and yet unlike, Oxford in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Yet for Lyra, her world is about climbing the rooftops of the Oxford colleges with her friend Roger, enthralling the neighbourhood children with her tales and keeping out of the way of the scholars of Jordan College.

Then children start to go missing, snatched mysteriously by a group the children call ‘The Gobblers’. When Roger is taken, Lyra founds herself bound up in a dangerous chase, a daring game of cat-and-mouse that sees her on the run from the highest authorities.

It is a hunt that will take her far from Oxford, to high-society London and the home of the mysterious and beautiful Mrs Coulter and beyond, to the home of the witches and the kingdom of the ice bears where the aurora awaits.

Here Lyra’s quest for answers becomes a mission to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust and there are secrets too, about her own family, about a prophecy, about betrayal and about the universe; secrets that come at a deadly cost.Why Novel North recommends

'Love the sense of adventure and the friendships.  Getting caught up in Lyra's world, you crave exploration and discovery for yourself. A wonderful tale of self-discovery and adventure. A fantastical world, just off our own, with armoured polar bears, secret underground passages, and airship exploration over ice.’

Author : Philip Pullman

Edition : Paperback, Paperback, 448 pages

ISBN : 9781407186108

Weight: 280g
Dimensions: 203 x 142 x 29mm