Immersive, evocative and powerful, Common Ground is a unique evocation of how, over the course of one year, Rob Cowen discovered a common -- though extraordinary -- square mile of wood, meadow, hedge and river on the edge of his northern town.
'I am dreaming of the edge-land again.'
After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, Rob Cowen finds himself on unfamiliar territory, disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for the nearest open space. So one night, he sets out to find it -- a pylon-slung edge-land, a tangle of wood, meadow, field and river on the outskirts of town. Despite being in the shadow of thousands of houses, it feels unclaimed, forgotten, caught between worlds, and all the more magical for it.
Obsessively revisiting this contested ground, Cowen ventures deeper into its many layers and lives, documenting its changes through time and season and unearthing histories that profoundly resonate and intertwine with transformative events happening in his own life.
Blurring the boundaries of memoir, natural history and novel, Common Ground offers nothing less than an enthralling new way of writing about nature and our experiences within it. We encounter the edge-land's inhabitants in immersive, kaleidoscopic detail as their voices and visions rise from the fields and woods: beasts, birds, insects, plants and people -- the beggars, sages and lovers across the ages.
Startlingly personal and poetic, this is a unique portrait of a forgotten realm and a remarkable evocation of how, over the course of a year, a man came to know himself once more by unlocking it. But, above all, this is a book that reasserts a vital truth: nature isn't just found in some remote mountain or protected park. It is all around us. It is in us. It is us.
Industry Reviews
One of the most original books of 2015. -- Melissa Harrison * Books of the Year, The Times *
Bold and beautiful. -- Robert Macfarlane * New Statesman *
Cracking... Vividly and movingly described... Cowen writes very well. -- Alan Bennett * London Review of Books *
Absolutely mesmerising, utterly beautiful, utterly engrossing - it takes a lot for a book to give me goosebumps but this one did. -- Joanne Harris * Simon Mayo Drivetime BBC Radio 2 *
[A] multi-faceted, touched-by-genius exploration of a stretch of Harrogate wasteland. -- John Lewis-Stempel * Sunday Express, Books of the Year *
Marks out Cowen as a new writer who is both entertaining and significant... Cowen's descriptive writing is visceral and gripping... and his attention to colour is particularly striking. -- Richard Benson * Independent *
Magical... Deeply original... a detailed nature study [and] a moving memoir... I became both intrigued and enchanted by this hybrid approach. -- Sara Maitland * Countryfile magazine, Book of the Month *
Highly poetic... like an archaeologist, Cowen unearths histories, natural life and decayed infrastructure in a small area bordering the River Nidd... Above all, Common Ground is about the transformative power of this unnoticed piece of land, if one can only stand and stare for long enough' -- Serena Tarling * Financial Times *
Highly poetic... like an archaeologist, Cowen unearths histories, natural life and decayed infrastructure in a small area bordering the River Nidd... Above all, Common Ground is about the transformative power of this unnoticed piece of land, if one can only stand and stare for long enough' -- Serena Tarling * Financial Times *
Sensitive, thoughtful and poetic. Rob Cowen rakes over a scrap of land with forensic care, leading us into a whole new way of looking at the world. -- Michael Palin
