Spirit Of The Fens By Edward Storey

Spirit of the Fens is a summation of, though one hopes not the very last word upon, a lifelong acquaintance with the Fens by a man who loves them dearly could have wished for such a guide as Mr Storey during my Fenland explorations, but then the best guides are as companionable after, as during the journey.” From the Foreword by Graham Swift, author of Waterland Spirit of the Fens is Edward Storey’s most penetrating study so far of this part of England. Through the experiences and recollections of others, together with his own reflections and opinions on a subject which has concerned him ever since he became a writer, he has created an authentic picture of life in the Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire Fens. This is a book which not only combines geography, history and topography, but also one which preserves the thoughts and feelings of people who have lived in the Fens, many of them for more than eighty years. As Storey says in his introduction : ‘A landscape records also the events and actions of the people who have helped to make it what it is. There is a certain spirit about a place which makes it different from all other places, which gives it an identity and, in turn, draws from its local inhabitants a loyalty which is hard to define. The place and the people belong to each other and, in most cases, are inseparable.’ This delightful collection of essays, reflections and interviews makes an unusual and important contribution to the literature of East Anglia