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Ronald Blythe lived at the end of an overgrown farm track deep in the rolling countryside of the Stour Valley, on the border between Suffolk and Essex. His home was Bottengoms Farm, a sturdy yeoman's house once owned by the artist John Nash. From here, Blythe spent almost half a century observing the slow turn of the agricultural year, the church year, and village life in a series of rich, lyrical rural diaries.
Beginning with the arrival of snow on New Year's Day and ending with Christmas carols sung in the village church, Next to Nature invites us to witness a simple life richly lived. With gentle wit and keen observation Blythe meditates on his life and faith, on literature, art and history, and on our place in the landscape.
It is a celebration of one of our greatest living writers, and an unforgettable ode to the English countryside.
The late Ronald Blythe CBE was one of the UK's greatest living writers. His work, which has won countless awards, includes Akenfield (a Penguin 20th Century Classic and a feature film), Private Words, Field Work, Outsiders: a Book of Garden Friends and numerous other titles. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literary and was awarded their prestigious Benson Medal in 2006. In 2017, he was appointed a CBE for services to literature.
"A capacious book that contains multitudes [...] It is a work to amble through, seasonally, relishing the vivid dashes of colour and the precision and delicacy of the descriptions"
– The Spectator
"Ronald Blythe's eye and voice bring the countryside alive like a Brueghel painting. All the charm, wonder, eccentricity and vigour of country life is here in these pages, and told with such engaging directness, detail and colour. To immerse yourself in this East Anglian year is be reminded of why we love and value the rhythms and realities of rural life. Bliss"
– Stephen Fry
"My favourite read of the year [...] warm, funny and moving"
– Sunday Times
"A writer whose pages you turn and then turn back immediately to re-read, relish and get by heart"
– Susan Hill, Sunday Telegraph
