20/12/2024
Exciting new book announcement from Watkins very own Fiona Robertson!
STONE LANDS – A Journey of Darkness and Light Through Britain’s Ancient Places by Fiona Robertson is a deeply personal, but also extremely relatable, memoir, densely packed with the author’s first-hand experiences as a committed ‘stone hunter’, tracking down and trekking to the inscrutable pre-historic sentinels that exert a strange gravitational pull on many of us.
As well as an inspiring tour of the megalithic landscapes of these isles, STONE LANDS is a human journey into grief, hope and love. It’s a fantastic book for weird walkers and megalith-obsessives alike, richly illustrated with stunning black and white line drawings.
In Fiona’s own words: “There is no higher fun (in my view anyway) than pulling on a pair of boots and heading out into the countryside in search of standing stones. There’s something about these huge upright stones in the landscape that has fascinated me as far back as I can remember – they’re just so ancient, awe-inspiring and weird.
Winter solstice, this time of looking forward to the returning of the light, feels like a good moment to announce STONE LANDS. The last three or so years have been a terribly dark time for me, but writing this book has given me something wonderful and life/affirming to focus on, and the connections I’ve made with other stones enthusiasts while doing the research have been real rays of light.
A heartfelt thank-you to Joanna Swainson and to Emma Smith, Tamsin English and the whole brilliant team at Little, Brown. Massive thanks to Philip Harris for the insanely beautiful illustrations. And thank you so much, fellow stones enthusiasts – it has been so inspiring to hear your stories. Wishing you all a magical winter solstice and a very happy Christmas.”
STONE LANDS hardback edition is available to pre-order now, and will ship on, or just before, the summer solstice 2025 🪨
