I Can Hear the Cuckoo: Life in the Wilds of Wales

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Her descriptions of the change in herself, enjoying nature and things that she never would have previously before her mother passed away, of the process of "living" again, rang powerful and true. It's about grief, finding beauty in nature, creating a meaningful life through appreciation and joy in the simple things in life and the company of good people. After hearing an interview on Radio 4 I had high hopes but ultimately this is a self-absorbed, mawkish and pretty patronising read.

Here, in I Can Hear the Cuckoo: Life in the Wilds of Wales, Kiran is doubly challenged to tell her painful tale of her mother’s loss during Christmas Eve and her subsequent burial on New Year’s Eve, which she can never enjoy as others; indeed, she has never enjoyed this festive season due to her father’s alcoholism during her childhood days and her mother’s demise in adulthood. The author’s descriptions of grief were quite well written but for the other aspects of her life that the book covers I wanted to tell her to just get a grip. Having experienced profound grief myself, her depth of perception and expression reached into my very soul. About the Author: Kiran Sidhu is a freelance journalist and has written features, lifestyle and opinion pieces for The Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, The i Paper, The Independent, Metro, Woman magazine, Woman's Own and Breathe magazine. I was expecting this book would be more about the author learning to deal with her grief over the death of her mother, and whilst she of course does touch on that, the book is really about a fish out of water learning basic countryside facts, which I didn’t find particularly interesting.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. I gradually learned how to read it - this wasn’t my usual fare of “space opera” where one explosion leads the protagonist to deliver a stunning treatise on AI and humanity. These kinds of books require slow-paced reading, where one needs to sync in and assimilate the character’s emotional and psychological hurt from loss, and travel with them to find a recuperative resolution to become a resilient person. This book is divided into four sections, classified according to the seasonal changes that accompany the various other demands upon people, their work, food, culture, and so on and so forth.

Biography: Kiran Sidhu is a freelance journalist and has written features, lifestyle and opinion pieces for The Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, The i Paper, The Independent, Metro, Woman magazine, Woman's Own and Breathe magazine. Reading this book I felt wrapped and held in the unfolding story,while been given the space to explore,what is being offered in relation to my own journey,side by side. After reading this memoir, do watch Heart Valley, an award-winning short documentary on the life of Wilf Davies, a 73-year-old farmer who eats the same food for more than 10 years and has never left country life for city life in his lifetime. It started off well, the author's mother dies and she moves away from London to the Welsh hills to flee her toxic constrained family.I have always believed ‘memoir’ as a genre is a tough nut to crack; it is because you have to tell your real-life (boring) story in an immersive tone and pace to keep your readers engaged - not an easy task by any means. It was quite a short book with short chapters and I got into the swing of swooping around the page, but it was a bit irritating and you wouldn’t have enjoyed it!