Burn: A Story of Fire, Woods and Healing

Description

'An extraordinary and powerful book, full of vitality. Every page celebrates the way traditional skills can shape who we are' Tristan Gooley 'Lyrical, moving and never self-pitying . . . a lovely book' The Times Ben Short has a successful career in advertising, a flat in a trendy part of London, a flashy motorbike. But after years of suffering with anxiety, he's a wreck. A drastic change is needed. For a time, he finds solace working with a forester, then as an apprentice to a Gypsy woodman, setting up home in a dilapidated wagon with just a rescue dog for company. However, it is not until he feels the call of the furnace, a glowing charcoal kiln in the Dorset woods, that he can truly re-forge his thoughts, put the years of suffering behind him, and start afresh by immersing himself in the old ways of woods and fire. Exquisitely written and deeply honest, Burn is a hopeful story of transformation, a celebration of manual work and craft, and a love letter to the English countryside. 'Beautifully written . . . reading it leaves you feeling ruffled but alive' Mail on Sunday

Ben Short is a charcoal burner and woodsman, working in the Dorset countryside. A decade ago he worked as an advertising copywriter in London. He has lived in huts and old wagons, spent summers off-grid in woods, hauled his water from wells and had to forage for his supper. He lives in Dorset with his partner and son. benshortcharcoal.co.uk

Lyrical, moving and never self-pitying . . . a lovely book. * The Times * Short's story is as much about work as it is escape and landscape; he illuminates the value of doing rather than thinking. Beautifully written, Burn is melancholy and hopeful in equal measure. Like taking a forest ramble in changeable weather, reading it leaves you feeling ruffled but alive * Mail on Sunday * An intriguing, touching and beautifully written book, about how it feels to be in a dark place spiritually, to move into the woods but enter an increasingly lighter place, to be practising the ancient skills of coppicing and charcoal burning, to love a dog. -- Ruth Pavey In this candid memoir, [Ben] learns the benefits of living simply . . . above all, Ben discovers the joys of risking everything in the search for personal happiness. * The Countryman * A most excellent read. Destined to become a classic in its field, much like Walter Rose's memoir, The Village Carpenter -- Sean Hellman An extraordinary and powerful book, full of vitality. Every page celebrates the way traditional skills can shape who we are. -- Tristan Gooley