A Book Of Silence

In her late forties after a noisy upbringing as one of six children andadulthood as a vocal feminist and mother Sara Maitland found herself livingalone in the c... » 

In her late forties after a noisy upbringing as one of six children andadulthood as a vocal feminist and mother Sara Maitland found herself livingalone in the country and to her surprise falling in love with silence. Inthis fascinating intelligent beautifully written book Maitland describes howshe set out to explore this new love spending periods of silence in the Sinaidesert the Scottish hills and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye. Maitlandfinds her experiences both euphoric and dark mirrored in the stories of otherswho have encountered silencefrom explorers and mystics to longdistancesailors. And in a wonderfully confiding witty voice she delves deep into therich cultural history of silence exploring its significance in fairy tale andmyth its importance to the Western and Eastern religious traditions and itsuse in psychoanalysis and artistic expression. Maitlands journey into silenceholds surprises and setbacks but mainly reveals a deepening happiness. Herstory culminates in her building a hermitage on an isolated moor in Gallowayand as she guides readers through experiences of silence in this new home sheevokes a sense of peace that includes the reader in its intimate tranquility. «