Hermit: A memoir of finding freedom in a wild place

Reviews

Bluebel77

While clearly not a hermit in the traditional sense, as we learn from information interspersed throughout the story about hermits past and more present (including Norwich’s own Mother Julian, who I am intrigued by), I think the author (with her phone, the internet and a husband etc) could perhaps be considered a modern version. Have you seen those occasional job adverts seeking someone to go and live on a remote island and count nesting birds or catalogue seashells? from her darkest days and into the lighter ones ahead.

Tara (After The Rain)

Those adverts are the reason I bought Hermit, even though memoir is not my usual genre of choice, because it sounded like the author was in search of something similar. ). She belongs to the surroundings of the quiet familiar countryside, where she grew up, in its natural & wild form.

This book definitely wasn’t one I could read late into the night because otherwise I missed the beauty of her sentences. Modern life (earning enough money, accessing food, not having a car) eventually encroached and it was time to move on (several more times).

It's clear to see Jade has always had a pure love and joy of nature, with a wealth of knowledge that can only come from studying it with all her heart. Left on her own at a Barn on the Exmoor hills, I could feel her badly dented confidence in herself start to grow and bloom over time as she learnt to be more self-sufficient, in different ways, alone in nature.