on 1st June 2017 my new book Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt is published in hardback and ebook by Sceptre.
Here's the blurb from the book:
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A captivating nature memoir telling the story of Britain's Green Belt, our national obsession with the countryside, and the author's childhood.
Coined by National Trust co-founder Octavia Hill at the end of the nineteenth century, the phrase 'Green Belt' originally formed part of an impassioned plea to protect the countryside. By the late 1950s, those idealistic Victorian notions had developed into something more complex and divisive. Green belts became part of the landscape and psyche of post-war Britain, but would lead to conflicts at every level of society - between conservationists and developers, town and country, politicians and people, nimbys and the forces of progress.
Growing up on 'the last road in London' on an estate at the edge of the woods, John Grindrod had a childhood that mirrored these tensions. His family, too, seemed caught between two worlds: a wheelchair-bound mother who glowed in the dark; a father who was traumatised by chicken and was almost done in by an episode of Only Fools and Horses; two brothers – one sporty, one agoraphobic – and an unremarkable boy on the edge of it all discovering something magical.
The first book to tell the story of Britain's Green Belts, Outskirts is at once a fascinating social history, a stirring evocation of the natural world, and a poignant tale of growing up in a place, and within a family, like no other.
Growing up on 'the last road in London' on an estate at the edge of the woods, John Grindrod had a childhood that mirrored these tensions. His family, too, seemed caught between two worlds: a wheelchair-bound mother who glowed in the dark; a father who was traumatised by chicken and was almost done in by an episode of Only Fools and Horses; two brothers – one sporty, one agoraphobic – and an unremarkable boy on the edge of it all discovering something magical.
The first book to tell the story of Britain's Green Belts, Outskirts is at once a fascinating social history, a stirring evocation of the natural world, and a poignant tale of growing up in a place, and within a family, like no other.
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Have had a couple of lovely advance quotes for it too:
'A terrific, and very moving read. Fascinating study in the emotional landscapes of cities. A hymn to the peripheral that is totally on target.'
Leo Hollis, author of Cities Are Good for You
'What better lens to view the current friction between nature and our engorged cities than the Green Belt? A brilliant idea, brilliantly executed.'
Tristan Gooley, author of The Walker's Guide
EVENTS
I'm going to be doing lots of events for the book – talks, panels and, well, all sorts. I'll keep updating this with new things as they're announced. So far we have:
Stoke on Trent Literary Festival– tickets HERE
- 3pm, 8th June (election day!), The Eastwood Room, Emma Bridgewater Factory, Lichfield Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 3EJ
Lots more to follow!
PRE-ORDER THE BOOK
Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt, published in hardback and ebook by Sceptre.
Preorder here, or from your local bookshop:
Foyles | Hive | Waterstones | Amazon | Guardian Bookshop
If you'd like to contact me, perhaps with a media query or event request, or just to say hi, I'm on dirtymodernscoundrel@gmail.com