Morning: How to make time

Description

'For years now I have been getting up by 5am in winter (and I am just as happy at 4am in summer). It suits me. I like the energy, the awareness before the day wakes. The quiet before dawn in winter, the shift from night to day in summer. I get things done. I garden in soft light. It is my best time of day' In Morning, Allan Jenkins shows how getting up earlier even once a week or month can free us to be more imaginative, to maybe read, to walk, to write. He talks to other early risers such as Jamie Oliver and Samuel West, to poets and painters. We hear from a neuroscientist about sleep, a philosopher about dawn, a fisherman about light. Allan wakes early, he listens, he looks. He introduces us to a secret world. This is a celebration of dawn and morning: the best time of day.

Award-winning writer Allan Jenkins is the editor of Observer Food Monthly and once lived in an experimental eco-community on Anglesey, growing organic food on the edge of the Irish sea. He is the co-author of J. Sheekey Fish and the author of Plot 29.

'In this philosophical hymn to the pleasure of waking early Allan Jenkins says that dawn is an enchanted world behind a hidden door, a time where you can be anybody you want to be, because the rest of the world is asleep... it steadily becomes incredibly persuasive ... there's a golden period to do the things that are otherwise impossible in our busy lives. Seize the day indeed' Observer 'A lovely read: illuminating conversations with early risers, from Jamie Oliver to dawn-seeking fishermen, interspersed with diary-style essays. It made me want to set my alarm a full hour earlier' Psychologies Praise for Allan Jenkins: 'Plot 29 is a superbly written testament to the power of earth to nourish and heal. The writing is taut and honed to a sinewy strength, but rich with evocation and delight ... I loved it' Monty Don 'The sort of book you never forget reading: devastating, haunting and utterly beautiful' India Knight 'An absolutely original book. Absolutely brilliant. The best family memoir I've read in years' Bill Buford 'Allan Jenkins blooms. His garden bears fruit. Enter the seasons with him and grow. I love this book' Lemn Sissay 'Brave, exquisitely written and utterly compelling' Nigel Slater