''For most people childhood ends slowly, so nobody can see where one part of life finishes and the next bit starts. But my childhood has ended suddenly. In a day.''
IN THE BLOOD is Andrew Motion's beautifully delivered memoir of growing-up in post-war England - an unforgettable evocation of family life, school life, and country life. It also tells the story of how these worlds were shattered, when Motion's mother suffered a terrible riding accident.
The tragedy shadows the book, feeding its mood of elegy as well as its celebratory vigilance. Told from a teenage child's point of view, without the benefit of hindsight, Motion captures the pathos and puzzlement of childhood with great clarity of expression and freshness of memory. We encounter a strange but beguiling extended family, a profound love of the natural world, and a growing passion for books and writing.
- ISBN10 156792395X
- ISBN13 9781567923957
- Publish Date 15 May 2011 (first published 7 September 2006)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 12 April 2021
- Imprint David R. Godine Publisher
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 326
- Language English