Such a emotional and intimate journal across the space of a defining summer in the author's life. Thunderstone is a ode to celebrate the people, nature and places that helped Nancy.
A thought provoking example of embracing change bravely.

Unfortunately the ARC expired before I finished. I'm about 25% in and I truly loved what I've read.

It is incredible how Campbell's writing is so sad - especially the part about breaking up but still living with Anna - yet somehow so tender and comforting. Her writing perfectly captures the complexity of the situation, that constant tension between physical nearness and emotional & cognitive distance caused by Anna’s aphasia.

And then comes hope and a new life. She buys a caravan, meets new people, begins to get to grips with her new life - all the details are fascinating.

I'd love to pick up from where I left off sometime in the future.

It is inevitable that there will be lots of pandemic related writing in the next few years but I am at a loss as how to categorise this book.

I thought it was going to be far more a nature writing biography but it didn't quite deliver on this, and as a pandemic reflection it also didn't quite gel for me either. Nothing seemed to be developed in any detail and all I came away with was a 'woe is me' sentiment.

Soulful and full of brilliance, on every page there is a gem of insight. Campbell's work is always expertly balanced and fine tuned and this book is no exception,. The prose is beautiful, the content heartfelt and the book is one to savour and enjoy slowly.

Thunderstone is a strange read, it's in turn poetic and pedestrian. A treatise on reclaiming nature, dealing with loss and letting go. I was wanting to move this book more than I did. The reason? The author seems to be an unrepentant narcissist who only seems to see other people in terms of how they can be of use to her. Even when she's trying to look after her ex partner who has had a stroke, it's all about her. Her little community on the canal rally around to help her but all she can do is complain about how they don't do things to her liking, making little negative observations about them. She doesn't seem to even attempt to help them in return or even herself. There is no growth here, just self absorbtion.
While I can appreciate why she finished the book where she did, I wanted to know if she stayed in the caravan or did she abandon it once she'd got a book out of it and keep on running?

A beautiful, quiet book. In you enjoy knowing about plants, observing nature, connecting with people, and looking inward, you are sure to enjoy this beautifully written book.

Cannot find url for my Goodreads review on the android app. I will write them in the Netgalley app in the future.

After separating from her partner during the uncertain times of lockdown, Nancy Campbell buys a caravan, gets her wonderful friend Sven to drive it to a glade next to a canal in Oxfordshire and lives there, building new friendships and allowing herself to come to terms with the loss of her relationship.

Thunderstone is an extremely real & raw account of her experience living alone in her first home, tucked away by the canal, learning a new way of living.

This is the first book I’ve read from Campbell and now I see why she is an auto-buy author for so many people. Her writing is incredibly unique and special - there’s something cosy and charming about her words whilst also being laced with emotion.

I savoured this one over a few months, slowly picking it up when I needed a cosy book to read in the evening. It is a lovely little book.

I really loved getting to know everyone in her new little community on the canal & surrounding areas. The cosiness in this book was immense, it felt like I was tagging along with Nancy visiting Sven & the assassin, planting new seeds next to the caravan and trying to solve the mysteries of the water heater.

I now want to read all of Campbell’s other books - and plonk a caravan in the middle of the woods somewhere.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Elliott&Thompson for this review copy, it was a wonderful little read.

I absolutely loved this book, truly I did. I admit I wasn’t too keen on the first part when Nancy was caring for Anna but as soon as she left to live in the caravan, the book picked up.

Written in journal form, the book not only covers Nancy’s day to day life, it also introduces us to some fabulous characters such as Sven and the assassin, and includes wider research about the history and other facts concerning Oxford and the surrounding area. I have to say that Sven was portrayed as a wonderful person; I wish I had my own Sven in my life!

While living in a caravan may appear to be a carefree existence, Nancy does not romanticise it and tells us all about the problems she experienced, such as broken boilers and heaters and how making coffee nearly killed her. It’s true life stuff, no gloss.

One thing I loved was how Nancy showed the passing of time - not just through her journal entries, but by reporting what was happening in nature, such as which flowers were blooming or which fruits were ripening. The reader is immersed not only in Nancy’s daily life but also the natural world on her doorstep and really made me feel like I have to ditch my screen and get out more, to see what is growing around my home and learn to identify them. Because of this and so many other reasons, I highly recommend this book to anyone who feels like an undemanding, gentle read. Even if you don’t like reading journals, because I don’t either, yet I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

"Little sparrow is dead. Death in the hedge. Ha! Now that's a good title for your book. Better than Thunderbolt or whatever."

After a failed 10 year relationship, Nancy buys herself an caravan and moves it to a plot of land, this being her first real home. This book details six months of her life in the caravan, the nature she observes and the people she meets while there.

This book is definitely written by a writer. There are a lot of literary quotes along the way and some of the paragraphs seem to meander into an off topic train of thought. I found the book to be inspiring at some level but also a little pretentious (in writing style) on another. This is a book which will appeal to readers seeking out nature writing that is more poetic than immersive. I prefer to be immersed in the natural world through the reading of nature writing.

Nancy goes through some tough stuff in this book. A breakup and then having to care for her ex for a further year after she has a stroke, all while negotiating life in lockdown. Then having to deal with her own health issues. It made me appreciate what I've got.

Nancy returns home to the UK when she receives news that her partner Anna has had a stroke, both her and Anna are both aware that the relationship is rocky and nearly over but Nancy agrees to stay and help with Annas recovery for one year. The year ends and Nancy moves out but she is effectively homeless.

When Anna was in the hospital, Nancy meets a man called Sven (clever pseudonym for Svengali ) who introduces her to his friends who live on the canal, and helps her purchase a second hand caravan so that she can live on the canal bank.

The book is told in diary form and it chronicles Nancy’s life with Anna to living in the caravan and the freedoms and hardship that brings. The book ends as it begins in the same hospital but for different reasons.

This is a lovely book that I could not put down.. I simply adored it, the writing and words were beautiful, each word picked carefully and used for maximum effect.

There is a certain fragility that something is going to go wrong, that the new life she is building for herself will crack and break so very easily and when that moment comes, instead of breaking Nancys life merely bends to take in the new that she has been dealt.

It is a really beautiful book and I am really glad that I have read it.. I will be recommending it to everyone.


#Thunderstone #NetGalley #women #life #nature

A very powerful and gripping story that is difficult to read in some parts but worth sticking with. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Beautifully written heart wrenching memoir the author shares the changes in her life.Ending her relationship with her partner Annn ,Ann’s stroke and difficult recovery.The-world itself changing people suffering Cher moving from her former home to a small caravanI loved the authors previous book # Snow her writing continues to amaze me even thought his is a very different book. this is a very intimate memoir.#netgalley #elliottthompson

Thunderstone by Nancy Campbell is an interesting memoir about illness, home, the natural world and embracing change.

Campbell travels back to Oxford and a dying relationship to find that her partner has had a stroke and is in intensive care. Caring for her both in hospital and out, they plunge into the pandemic lockdown with only each other, in a cramped flat. Campbell, used to travelling the world, finds herself unravelling and to give herself some space, invests in a rundown caravan which she installs in a small patch of scrubby woodland by the canal, where she attempts to find her equilibrium in the coming months. Enforced quiet and the inability to travel means that she extends her gaze to the small, liminal community of the river bank and those who, like her, have been pushed to the sides of life by illness, both their own and others they care for.

This is powerful, beautiful and quiet. It is a book of longing and stillness and of noticing and perspective. I loved it.