In the Blood is Andrew Motion's beautifully written 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 are shattered, when his mother suffers a terrible riding accident.
The tragedy shadows the book, feeding its mood of elegy as well as its celebratory vigilance. Written from a teenage child's point of view, without the benefit of adult 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, a troubled schooling, and a growing passion for books and writing.
By turns funny and elegiac, In the Blood is a wonderful picture of a vanishing England, a remarkable insight into a poet's mind, and a deeply moving portrait of the bond between a mother and her son.
- ISBN10 0571236235
- ISBN13 9780571236237
- Publish Date 7 December 2006 (first published 7 September 2006)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 7 July 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Edition Signed ed
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 336
- Language English