Gift of Time

When his mother Joan was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Rory MacLean and his wife Katrin took her into their home. For five months, as their life fragmented and turned inward, they fought both to resist and to accept the inevitable. Each gave vent to their emotions in different ways, but all three kept a diary.

Heartbreakingly honest and deeply moving, Gift of Time is the story of those days, in the words of a son, his wife and his mother. Woven together into a poignant meditation on life and death, they illuminate the courage and dignity of one woman who confronted what we all must face. Threaded through with wisdom and guilt, anger and acceptance, the story is punctuated by a family wedding and the hope of new life, by bin-bags of old letters and books rediscovered, by the end of winter and the first signs of spring.

Powerful, raw and urgent, this slender volume is above all a celebration of life. Capturing every moment of beauty and pain it acknowledges that what survives all of us is love.

Praise for Rory MacLean's previous titles:

Stalin's Nose: 'The most extraordinary debut in travel writing since In Patagonia. A dark, sardonic and brilliant book which grows in stature with every page' William Dalrymple

'A surreal masterpiece' Colin Thubron

The Oatmeal Ark: 'One of the most original and innovative travel books for years.' Alexander Frater

'A truly astonishing performance' Jan Morris

'Such a book as this rather marvellously explains why literature still lives.' John Fowles

Under the Dragon: 'I cannot imagine a better book on the beauty and terror of Burma. Read it. Read it. Read it.' Fergal Keane

'It will make you cry and it will give you hope. ... It is astonishingly good.' Jeanette Winterson.

Magic Bus: 'A disturbing, gripping and intensely passionate story' Esther Freud.

“Rory Maclean is one of the most strikingly original and talented travel writers of his generation. - Katie HickmanPoignant. - The BooksellerMoving... Not all memoirs of death go as gently or acceptingly into this good night. - Catholic HeraldA moving, exceptional book and highly recommended. - The TabletBoth heartbreaking and, oddly, life-enhancing. - Financial TimesPoignant and moving. - ChoiceBrave. - Daily Telegraph”

Rory Maclean is one of the most strikingly original and talented travel writers of his generation. - Katie Hickman

Poignant. - The Bookseller

Moving... Not all memoirs of death go as gently or acceptingly into this good night. - Catholic Herald

A moving, exceptional book and highly recommended. - The Tablet

Both heartbreaking and, oddly, life-enhancing. - Financial Times

Poignant and moving. - Choice

Brave. - Daily Telegraph

Rory MacLean's seven books, including UK bestsellers Stalin's Nose and Under the Dragon, have challenged and invigorated travel writing. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an active member of English PEN. He now lives with his family in Berlin.

'This is the definitive book on the ColeridgeEmerson relation and offers a superb picture of transatlantic Romanticism at work traced, affirmed, and explained. Professor Harvey provides the full context and result of their relationship. In addition, the chapter treating Coleridge's formative presence in the Vermont school of Transcendentalism, which continues to influence higher education and Pragmatism, is a gem.'James Engell, Harvard University'In this lucid and elegant transatlantic study, Harvey shows how deeply Emerson's thought hence Transcendentalism itself was imbued with the light of Coleridge's philosophy. Emerson learned from Coleridge not just what but how to think, a debt we still honor today whenever we invoke education not as an accumulation of content, but as a process of living.'Laura Dassow Walls, William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English, University of Notre DameThe first book devoted to Coleridge's influence on Emerson and the development of American TranscendentalismAs Samantha C. Harvey demonstrates, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's thought galvanized Emerson at a pivotal moment in his intellectual development in the years 18261836, giving him new ways to harmonize the Romantic triad of nature, spirit, and humanity. Emerson did not think /about/ Coleridge: he thought /with/ Coleridge, resulting in a unique case of assimilative influence.In addition to examining his specific literary, philosophical, and theological influences on Emerson, this book reveals Coleridge's centrality for Boston Transcendentalism and Vermont Transcendentalism, a movement which profoundly affected the development of modern higher education, the national press, and the emergence of Pragmatism. Samantha C. Harvey is an Associate Professor of English Literature at Boise State University. She is the editor of /Coleridge's Responses: Coleridge on Nature and Vision/ (2008).Cover image: Schroon Mountain, Adirondacks, 1838, Thomas Cole.Cover design:[EUP logo]

When his mother Joan was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Rory MacLean and his wife Katrin took her into their home. For five months, as their life fragmented and turned inward, they fought both to resist and to accept the inevitable. Each gave vent to their emotions in different ways, but all three kept a diary.Heartbreakingly honest and deeply moving, Gift of Time is the story of those days, in the words of a son, his wife and his mother. Woven together into a poignant meditation on life and death, they illuminate the courage and dignity of one woman who confronted what we all must face. Threaded through with wisdom and guilt, anger and acceptance, the story is punctuated by a family wedding and the hope of new life, by bin-bags of old letters and books rediscovered, by the end of winter and the first signs of spring.Powerful, raw and urgent, this slender volume is above all a celebration of life. Capturing every moment of beauty and pain it acknowledges that what survives all of us is love. Praise for Rory MacLean's previous titles: Stalin's Nose : 'The most extraordinary debut in travel writing since In Patagonia. A dark, sardonic and brilliant book which grows in stature with every page' William Dalrymple'A surreal masterpiece' Colin Thubron The Oatmeal Ark : 'One of the most original and innovative travel books for years.' Alexander Frater'A truly astonishing performance' Jan Morris'Such a book as this rather marvellously explains why literature still lives.' John Fowles Under the Dragon : 'I cannot imagine a better book on the beauty and terror of Burma. Read it. Read it. Read it.' Fergal Keane'It will make you cry and it will give you hope. ... It is astonishingly good.' Jeanette Winterson. Magic Bus : 'A disturbing, gripping and intensely passionate story' Esther Freud.

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