I loved this beautiful book. It's an attentive meditation on the pleasures and lessons of swimming in lakes, particularly in winter. Jessica Lee wears her bravery lightly and shares her knowledge with generosity. I recommend for outdoor swimmers or those who would like to be

- Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun,

A brilliant debut . . . there is clarity and pleasure in the swim's afterglow

Times Literary Supplement

<b>A sublime, philosophical slipping </b><b>into the deep</b>. Her book, <i>Turning</i>, is filled with a wonderful melancholy as she swims through lakes laden with dark histories

- Philip Hoare, New Statesman

Se alle

Lee is intelligent and controlled, her writing clean and accurate . . . <i>Turning</i> is many things: a snapshot of Berlin seen through the prism of its lakes; the story of a broken and healing heart; a contemplation of identity; a coming-of-age story

- Katharine Norbury, Observer

Bold and brave, she approaches her watery pilgrimage with a minimum amount of fuss. She doesn't, for instance, allow the ice on Brandenburg's lakes to get in her way, but takes a hammer to it . . . Lee writes like a siren, her silken prose blending with softly worn scholarship to enchanting effect. I challenge anyone to write more compellingly about Slavic suffixes or the formation of ice

Literary Review

The redemptive power of these wild landscapes, the changes in the water, and in Jessica, combine to create an inspiring story

Daily Telegraph

A lovely, poetic, sensuous and melancholy book

Irish Examiner

<i>Turning</i> is about the joys of swimming through the year . . . Jessica brilliantly takes us into the water with her, even on those freezing mornings when she had to use a hammer to smash through the ice to get her fix. It's as much about loss and recovery as it is swimming. <b>The water helps soothe Jessica's heartbreak and depression - a lesson for the rest of us about the healing power of nature</b>

- Sun (Fabulous),

'The water slips over me like cool silk. The intimacy of touch uninhibited, rising around my legs, over my waist, up to my collarbone. When I throw back my head and relax, the lake runs into my ears. The sound of it is a muffled roar, the vibration of the body amplified by water, every sound felt as if in slow motion . . .' Summer swimming . . . but Jessica Lee - Canadian, Chinese and British - swims through all four seasons and especially loves the winter. 'I long for the ice. The sharp cut of freezing water on my feet. The immeasurable black of the lake at its coldest. Swimming then means cold, and pain, and elation.'At the age of twenty-eight, Jessica Lee, who grew up in Canada and lived in London, finds herself in Berlin. Alone. Lonely, with lowered spirits thanks to some family history and a broken heart, she is there, ostensibly, to write a thesis. And though that is what she does daily, what increasingly occupies her is swimming. So she makes a decision that she believes will win her back her confidence and independence: she will swim fifty-two of the lakes around Berlin, no matter what the weather or season. She is aware that this particular landscape is not without its own ghosts and history.This is the story of a beautiful obsession: of the thrill of a still, turquoise lake, of cracking the ice before submerging, of floating under blue skies, of tangled weeds and murkiness, of cool, fresh, spring swimming - of facing past fears of near drowning and of breaking free.When she completes her year of swimming Jessica finds she has new strength, and she has also found friends and has gained some understanding of how the landscape both haunts and holds us.This book is for everyone who loves swimming, who wishes they could push themselves beyond caution, who understands the deep pleasure of using their body's strength, who knows what it is to allow oneself to abandon all thought and float home to the surface.
Les mer
She swims to explore the natural history of fresh water and to examine her own place in the world. Turning is a nature memoir chronicling Jessica J. Lee's year of swimming in the lakes around Berlin.
Jessica J. Lee - Canadian, Chinese and British - swims through all four seasons. This is the story of a beautiful obsession: of the thrill of a still, turquoise lake, of cracking the ice before submerging, of floating under blue skies, of cool, fresh, spring swimming - of facing past fears of near drowning and of breaking free.'Lee is intelligent and controlled, her writing clean and accurate . . . Turning is many things: a snapshot of Berlin seen through the prism of its lakes; the story of a broken and healing heart; a contemplation of identity; a coming-of-age story' Katharine Norbury, Observer'Bold and brave, she approaches her watery pilgrimage with a minimum amount of fuss . . . Lee writes like a siren, her silken prose blending with softly worn scholarship to enchanting effect' Literary Review'Turning is filled with a wonderful melancholy as she swims through lakes laden with dark histories . . . Her clear, calm writing encompasses the truth and terror of open-water swimming: the conjunction of human and natural history that it represents as we swimmers hang there in the water, caught between elements, between our land-bound lives stationed in front of liminal screens and the infinite deep that lies beyond' Philip Hoare
Les mer
I loved this beautiful book. It's an attentive meditation on the pleasures and lessons of swimming in lakes, particularly in winter. Jessica Lee wears her bravery lightly and shares her knowledge with generosity. I recommend for outdoor swimmers or those who would like to be
Les mer
I loved this beautiful book. It's an attentive meditation on the pleasures and lessons of swimming in lakes, particularly in winter. Jessica Lee wears her bravery lightly and shares her knowledge with generosity. I recommend for outdoor swimmers or those who would like to beA sublime, philosophical slipping into the deep. Her book, Turning, is filled with a wonderful melancholy as she swims through lakes laden with dark histories - New StatesmanLee is intelligent and controlled, her writing clean and accurate . . . Turning is many things: a snapshot of Berlin seen through the prism of its lakes; the story of a broken and healing heart; a contemplation of identity; a coming-of-age story - ObserverThe redemptive power of these wild landscapes, the changes in the water, and in Jessica, combine to create an inspiring story - Daily Telegraph
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780349008332
Publisert
2018
Utgiver
Vendor
Virago Press Ltd
Vekt
205 gr
Høyde
199 mm
Bredde
131 mm
Dybde
20 mm
Aldersnivå
00, G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Jessica J. Lee is a British-Canadian-Taiwanese author, environmental historian, and winner of the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Author Award. She received a doctorate in environmental history and aesthetics in 2016, and her first book, Turning, was published in 2017. Jessica is the founding editor of The Willowherb Review. She lives in Berlin.