Today is my last day at the London Review Bookshop after 12 glorious years, and the best part of 20 in the book trade. I am extremely sad to be leaving everyone in the Bookshop and the wonderful community of readers and writers that finds its home here.
Bookselling feels very much like a vocation, and I could only have left it for something that feels like equally as powerful a calling – which is where the midlife crisis comes in. Over the past few years, I have become obsessed with working stone, and what started as a whim to try a random evening class is now the beginning of a new career as a heritage stonemason.
In the manner of born again people of all kinds, I’m taking this opportunity to evangelise: give that hobby you’ve been thinking about a go – you never know where it might lead...
Here are some books that, for one reason or another, led me down this path – maybe they’ll inspire you too.
From the publisher:
'Tender and elegant' Guardian'Unlike anything else in modern English literature' D.J. Taylor, SpectatorA damaged survivor of the First World War, Tom Birkin finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is to spend the summer…
From the publisher:
A stonemason's story of the building of Britain: part archaeological history, part deeply personal insight into an ancient craft.In his thirty-year career, stonemason Andrew Ziminski has worked on many of our greatest monuments. From…
From the publisher:
Marble in Metamorphosis contemplates the physical and cultural life of marble. It explores the ethics, politics and symbolism of its use and deliberates over the spirit of the material and why some cultures so revere and desire it. In…
From the publisher:
'Every devotee of literature and art should read this rare, bright-lit, hard-won book, and every student of life - that is to say, everyone.' - Sebastian Barry…
From the publisher:
'Colquhoun's unique artistic vision shines through like at no time in recent history' - Art UK'Colquhoun's time-travelling survey of Cornwall's culture and history brings ghosts and dead landscapes to life all around you' - Stewart…
From the publisher:
‘A personal and illuminating pilgrimage into the mysterious deep time of the medieval stonemason’s art.’ David Keenan‘A story of deep knowledge, self-discovery, mark-making and deft articulation, King of Dust is a…
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