Notes from the Henhouse, Elspeth Barker
Notes from the Henhouse, Elspeth Barker
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Notes from the Henhouse
On Marrying a Poet, Raising Children and Chickens, and Writing

Author: Elspeth Barker

Narrator: Raffaella Barker

Unabridged: 5 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/19/2024


Synopsis

A sharp and witty collection of autobiographical essays by the late Elspeth Barker—acclaimed journalist and author of the beloved modern classic O Caledonia.

Following the publication of her acclaimed, darkly funny novel O Caledonia, Elspeth Barker’s sharp and witty essays appeared regularly in the national press. Notes from the Henhouse, a selection of the most personal of these pieces, welcomes readers into the celebrated writer’s life.

Tracing Barker’s upbringing from her Scottish roots, these essays beautifully capture her time with the poet George Barker and her profound sense of loss following his death. She writes about George’s former lover Elizabeth Smart and other figures from 1950s bohemia and 1960s counterculture. Pieces like “Thoughts in a Garden,” equal parts hilarious and moving, read like dispatches from the front lines of country living, depicting the vagaries of raising a large family and assorted pets in a damp and drafty farmhouse.

Vivid, charming, and wholly original, Notes from the Henhouse is a wonderful glimpse into the life of an extraordinary writer.

About Elspeth Barker

In her career as a novelist and journalist, Elspeth Barker wrote for The IndependentThe Observer (London), The Sunday Times (London), London Review of Books, and many others. Elspeth also taught Latin at what she described as a naughty girls’ school on the Norfolk coast and worked as a tutor and lecturer in creative writing at the Norwich School of Art and Design. She published her first novel, O Caledonia, at the age of fifty-one. O Caledonia was awarded the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. Elspeth was married to the poet George Barker and she died in 2022.


Reviews

Goodreads review by nathan on June 18, 2024

3.5 stars Major thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review: "๐˜ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ข ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ๐˜ด. โ€œ๐˜‘๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆโ€™๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ......more

Goodreads review by Benemick Schmess 📚 on January 08, 2025

Itโ€™s tragic this lady didnโ€™t write more during her lifetime. So many passages I would reach the end of and go โ€œGAH, I wish Iโ€™d put it that way.โ€ I think the mark of a great writer is someone who makes you want to do it, and their perceived effortlessness cruelly makes you think you can. Comedy: โ€œCon......more

Goodreads review by cass on March 22, 2024

thank you to netgalley and scribner for the early copy! this had beautiful writing with some interesting stylistic choices, but not a lot for me to latch onto content-wise. lots of scottish dialect and imagery from the countryside which was a different setting from what i normally read. lots of talk......more

Goodreads review by Andy on December 26, 2024

Some of the anecdotes that Barker relates are relevant to O Caledonia, and itโ€™s possible to see what inspired her. For me, that is one of the greatest books I have ever read. Though this has some humorous moments, in the end it is just a collection of essays that give an insight into Barkerโ€™s life.......more

Goodreads review by Ian on January 10, 2024

Lightweight but fun and well written.......more


Quotes

"The problem with the audio version of Elspeth Barker’s indelible essays and stories is that you can’t underline your favorite parts. That’s probably just as well; your pen would go dry."