‘The Given World’ is a ‘dark pastoral’ exploring the deep and fragile connection between humanity and the natural world. The inhabitants of an English country village are beset by an uneasy shift in the seasons, illuminating the natural, personal and national transitions of our time.
‘A novel that reminds us with every luminous sentence about the fragile grace of ordinary lives. I can’t think of a writer better at evoking the English countryside in all of its strange beauty.’
— Evie Wyld
‘A brilliantly acute social portrait of English rural life now. The best piece of serious fiction I’ve read this year. Extraordinary.’
— Francis Spufford
‘I loved the way The Given World is at once warm and clever, meticulously attentive to place, plants and animals while insisting on human grace. Melissa Harrison’s prose is strong and lovely as ever.’
— Sarah Moss
Melissa will be in conversation with Peggy Hughes, the National Centre for Writing Chief Executive Officer.
Tickets: £10
Part of City of Literature weekend — a Norfolk & Norwich Festival and National Centre for Writing presentation, programmed by the National Centre for Writing.
