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Reading lists

Vintage new writers to discover in 2023

Beatrice Searle

Extraordinary... Confessional, elemental and at times moving, this is a memorable and unique celebration of the power and beauty of stone.

Searle is an excellent storyteller... [and Stone Will Answer] make[s] for gripping reading... it's the human spirit that emerges triumphant in this sparky blend of memoir and travelogue... Above all, this is the story of a young woman's astonishing feat of endurance

A gifted writer, capable of luminous description

Illuminating... I was quickly taken in by Beatrice Searle's distinctive voice, and by the end I couldn't help but feel very differently about stones, rootedness, belonging, and indeed what walking might mean. Beatrice's story is exceptional, and she is an exceptional story teller.

Kerri Andrews, author of Wandering: A History of Women Walking

A magnificent book. Written with the eye of a poet and the heart of an artist, Stone Will Answer is both a moving account of an unconventional journey and a testament to the power of stone in finding anchorage in an uncertain world

A story of dedication and tenacity that is deeply moving and utterly captivating. Stone Will Answer is a truly remarkable book, a beautifully crafted tale of an artist's extraordinary journey. Searle seamlessly contemplates the meaning of craft, ancient myths, the mutability of stone and the transformations within her own life. Its rare to read a story of such artistic integrity. I felt bereft when I finished but also buoyed by a new found fascination with stone and all its many meanings.

An astonishing mission with huge integrity in the telling.

Linda Cracknell, author of Writing Landscape

A story of determination and soul-searching... Compellingly narrated, entertaining and thought-provoking... treat yourself to a copy of this book and enjoy the journey

A moving testimony to the power of art, of finding the extraordinary in the everyday and acting upon your instinct. To walk with Searle in its pages is to experience stone within a new light... as a part-knowable, ever-shifting medium in the process of slow but perpetual change, one long work-in-progress.

A Journey Guided by Craft, Myth and Geology

A beautiful memoir, travelogue and meditation on stone by artist and stone mason Beatrice Searle. 
 
'Extraordinary' Guardian 
‘A magnificent book’ Alex Woodcock 
‘Exceptional’ Kerri Andrews 
‘Luminous’ Spectator 
 
At the age of twenty-six, artist and Cathedral stonemason Beatrice Searle crossed the North Sea and walked 500 miles along a medieval pilgrim path through Southern Norway, taking with her a 40-kilogram Orcadian stone. 
 
Fascinated with the mysterious footprint stones of Northern Europe and the ancient Greco-Roman world, stones closely associated with travellers, saints and the inauguration of Kings, she follows in their footsteps as her stone becomes a talisman, a bedrock and an offering to those she meets along the way. 
 
Stone Will Answer is an unusual adventure story of journeys practical, spiritual and geological, of weight and motion, and an insight into a beguiling craft.

Beatrice Searle

Praise for Stone Will Answer

Extraordinary... Confessional, elemental and at times moving, this is a memorable and unique celebration of the power and beauty of stone.

Searle is an excellent storyteller... [and Stone Will Answer] make[s] for gripping reading... it's the human spirit that emerges triumphant in this sparky blend of memoir and travelogue.. ...

A gifted writer, capable of luminous description

Extraordinary... Confessional, elemental and at times moving, this is a memorable and unique celebration of the power and beauty of stone.

Searle is an excellent storyteller... [and Stone Will Answer] make[s] for gripping reading... it's the human spirit that emerges triumphant in this sparky blend of memoir and travelogue.. ...

A gifted writer, capable of luminous description

Extraordinary... Confessional, elemental and at times moving, this is a memorable and unique celebration of the power and beauty of stone.

Searle is an excellent storyteller... [and Stone Will Answer] make[s] for gripping reading... it's the human spirit that emerges triumphant in this sparky blend of memoir and travelogue.. ...

A gifted writer, capable of luminous description

Articles featuring Beatrice Searle

Vintage new writers to discover in 2023

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