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The Easternmost House

By (author) Juliet Blaxland
Format: Paperback / softback
Publisher: Sandstone Press Ltd, United Kingdom
Published: 25th Apr 2019
Dimensions: w 118mm h 192mm d 22mm
Weight: 230g
ISBN-10: 1912240548
ISBN-13: 9781912240548
Barcode No: 9781912240548
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Synopsis
Juliet Blaxland is an architect, author, cartoonist and illustrator. She grew up in a remote part of Suffolk and now lives on the cliff edge of the easternmost part of England. She is the author and illustrator of ten children's books. Her cartoon series, Life in a Listed Building, was published monthly in the Prince of Wales's architecture magazine Perspectives and won a prize at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The Crowood Press published Nimrod, a Cavalry Black, in 2015, and The House Pony: an ABC of Horsemanship, was published in 2018. She is also a prize-winning photographer.

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What Reviewers Are Saying

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Jul 25th 2019, 18:44
Beautiful natural chronicle
Excellent - 9 out of 10
Without wanting to sound trite, The Easternmost House is a lovely book. Many passages are wistful, picturesque and rather glorious. But it’s tinged with sadness. The very purpose of this book is to capture a year in the environment and countryside surrounding this Suffolk house. Sitting at the mercy of coastal erosion, its proximity to the edge of the cliff has decreased to such an extent that its days are numbered.

When this house is finally demolished (as will be the case, since the health and safety executive no longer leave buildings to topple romantically into the sea), a piece of history will be lost. So in anticipation of this, Juliet Blaxland has penned this poetic and poignant memoir of a place. It’s not just about a property, though; it’s about nature, eras, community and collective memory.

From quaint rural lifestyles to historical analysis of the origins of beach combing, this book manages to cover huge ground. And it manages it at such a gentle pace. There’s a feeling reminiscent of Springwatch and Countryfile in the natural imagery that Juliet conjures. However, what lifts the writing is her edge of dry wit. She’s really funny in many places and her personal accounts are utterly endearing and engaging.

In this rural prose, perhaps inevitably we find a window to the past. Even if some aspects of community haven’t quite been surpassed by faceless technology for this Suffolk community. Not quite yet anyway. I felt sad for the birdwatchers removed from their experience by the “tyranny of telescopes and … technology” and was devastated by the demise of independent shops from the nearby town. However, I could take refuge in the stunning depictions of cricket matches and church fundraisers, however finite their future.

But this book is not preoccupied with nostalgia. It’s clearly a very current piece of writing, with nods to climate change, the plastic crisis and hashtags. Juliet is slightly cynical towards extreme lifestyles - mainly directed at vegans and hipsters. Nevertheless, the direction that this book takes is, perhaps despite itself, of a trend. The ‘eat less eat better’ meat philosophy for example. Except she just calls it a way of life. Nothing more and nothing less. Humanity’s main issue as regards to feeding itself is that ‘we are a contrary and hypocritical species’. We shun perfectly good food sources because of romantic or peculiarly squeamish tendencies.

So this book is in part about sustenance. After all, ‘the Suffolk landscape … is a significant proportion of the country’s homegrown food’. To close each chapter we find a monthly guide to what’s in season. From meat to vegetables, seasonal produce is listed in a way that you’d expect to find in a culinary text. It’s all brought starkly back on message, though, by the logging of the decreasing distance from the house to the cliff edge. something that made me want to flick to the end to check that the house survives the year!

Back to cookery, though. Juliet shares culinary endeavours (including brief recipes), and mentions Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s cook books and the current trend for foraging (not always appreciative). These are all clearly signs of the author’s knowledge and appreciation of good food. This is one area in which she pleas with us not to loose touch with our ancestral knowledge. And she’s (perhaps unwittingly) bang on trend here. From the ‘real food’ revolution to ‘zero waste’, movements are taking place to reinstall humanity’s ability to sustain itself… well… sustainably.

Juliet’s words have had the power to make me feel a bit ashamed of not recognising the bird calls that echo through Hampshire woodland. Forty years ago my Grandmother wrote detailed poetry on the natural world. Inspired by this book, perhaps it’s time that I revisit her words and her wisdom. The existence of the Easternmost House, as of humanity, is fleeting. And the only way we can keep our own little realities alive is to pass them on as Juliet Blaxland has done wonderfully here.
Jun 16th 2019, 14:01
A charm filled account of a year in Suffolk
Excellent - 8 out of 10
"The house on the edge of the cliff was demolished last week, which means we are now the house on the edge of the cliff".
It's hard to imagine living in a house at such immediate danger of being swallowed up by nature, but Juliet Blaxland both lives and loves being a resident of "The Easternmost House". In this book we follow a year in the life of the coastal residents of Suffolk. In January the house is, roughly, 24 metres from the cliff - by December that distance has shrunk to 19 metres. It doesn't take a genius to realise that the property's days can be measured in years rather than decades.
However the author clearly loves the country lifestyle and is pragmatic enough to realise that nature often has rules of it's own. It can't be contained and can't be changed and so it is up to us to work with it.
Rather than a depressing tale of the disappearing coastline the book is more a collection of thoughts, memories and gentle opinions. Full of little nuggets on the subjects of religion "each church must now be maintained by twenty-odd (or twenty odd) people", wildlife friendly farming and, indeed, the way our annual calendar has historically revolved around the land this is not necessarily a book you'd want to read in one sitting. Rather more something to dip in and out of when, perhaps, you need a little time out from the munitiae of life. A book to allow for moments of calm and reflection "Life is short. Live in the moment. Our moment of life is brief. The world is unpredictable but we can control ourselves"
It's a master class in accepting what we cannot change and appreciating the beauty around us (with caution - the tale of the snake and baby is a bit eye opening!)
Ultimately there's a little something for everyone - I'm sure most readers could find a parallel or two. A charming and thought provoking read.
Newspapers & Magazines
A beautiful book, eloquent and evocative. Lyrical, poignant and witty, this book is a moving testament to a still enormously vibrant but vanishing time, place and way of life. -- Maggie Craig I feel like a stalker, but reading Juliet Blaxland's The Easternmost House, I got straight into my car and drove over to stare at her home. Her wonderful book describes living on the most extreme outpost of Suffolk's coast of erosion. -- Janice Turner * The Times * Blaxland's writing is evocative, whether she is writing about the roar of a storm, jugs of homemade Pimm's or the attempt to create a crop circle. She has a deep love of the coastal landscape she inhabits. -- Paul Cheney * Halfman, Halfbook * Brilliant memoir about nature, landscape, food and the disconnect between town and country. -- India Knight * The Sunday Times * The author writes beautifully about her life in this small extremity... a hymn to a simpler life, one lived more in tune with the rhythms of the natural world, with its wonders and its perils. * Country Life * Prose that flows effortlessly with a wry turn of phrase at every corner. Plus, she's bloody funny. In The Easternmost House you read the sound of her voice, and so the book rattles along like a good'un. * Caught by the River * Destined to be a 21st Century classic. Just brilliant. * John Lewis-Stempel, author of The Running Hare * A marvellous evocation of the Suffolk coast. It made me want to jump on the next train out of London. * Andrew Gimson, author of Gimson's Kings & Queens *