Apothecary by the Sea

VICTORIA BENNETT is a disabled, award-winning writer, poet, and literary activist whose work centres on nature, identity and creative resilience. Her debut memoir, All My Wild Mothers, won the Nautilus Award for Memoir, was shortlisted for multiple UK prizes and was named an Aladin ‘Best Book of the 21st Century’. Founder of Wild Women Press and the international Wild Women Writers’ Salons, Victoria lives in Orkney with her husband, artist Adam Clarke, and their son, where she tends her apothecary garden by the sea. http://victoriabennett.me/

‘With herb profiles and lovely black and white interior illustrations by Adam Clarke throughout, this alluring new book … is part garden almanac, part memoir and part herbal grimoire. It tells the moving and tender story of Bennett’s wild apothecary garden on Orkney and how she went above “reclaiming parts of herself long set aside” in the process of planting it.’ The Bookseller‘A beautiful haven of a book; richly nourishing, inspirational and full of hope. Do not read this book to escape reality but read it to dig deeper into reality and discover what is precious and extraordinary in the everyday. This is a comforting book perfect for our uncertain world. I highly recommend it.’ Catherine Simpson, author of When I Had a Little Sister‘A profound invitation to enter into conversation with the land around you and in doing so, yourself. Also a gift for times of transition, it is a companion for those navigating thresholds in life, when old maps no longer serve and new ways of being are quietly forming. Victoria weaves inner and outer worlds together allowing memory, place and plant wisdom to dance at the same time. The featured herbs are reminders of ancestral knowledge that might have been lost, yet lives on through attentive listening and careful tending. This is a book you will want within arms reach on your bookshelf, one you will return to again and again, each time finding something new waiting for you. Lyrical and grounded, a gentle generous guide to placemaking.’ JC Niala, author of The New Eden‘An enchanting story centred on the herbal delights of Orkney. A tale of travel, arrival and the wonders of wild gardening.’ James Canton, author of Renaturing‘A beautifully written account of how one woman, in midlife, connects with place and makes a new home for her and her family. Through learning, planting and harvesting, Victoria Bennett draws on her knowledge and understanding of the often overlooked. Creating and drawing from an apothecary garden, the author finds space for rest and renewal through a time of transformation. A gorgeous meditation on connecting and listening to the natural world, and our bodies, in living with chronic illness. A poetic resistance.’ Louise Kenward, editor of Moving Mountains: Writing Nature Through Illness and Disability. ‘If a sense of place is created by a connection to nature and her plant allies, with some history woven in, and a woman’s inner thoughts of her relationship to the land, then The Apothecary’s Garden is a beautifully evocative guide to life in an Orkney Garden. If you have ever harboured a secret longing to live by the sea (as many of us have) this book will likely send you to your packing boxes. At once gentle and nurturing, whilst strident and awe-inspiring, Vik Bennett’s lovely book is a compelling read from start to finish. I could almost smell the salt air and the bladderwrack from the first page to the last.’ Rebecca Beattie, author of The Wheel of the Year ‘A delightful and deeply moving book. Filled with plant lore and threaded with beautiful drawings by the author’s artist husband, it takes us through an Orcadian gardening year. But the book is much more than an almanac, it is a treasure trove of herbal knowledge with guides to creating an apothecary garden of one’s own. Victoria Bennett writes with understanding of and deep love for the wilder plants in and around her island home. Her book is an enchanting and enriching mix of memoir, ecology and magic, and a heartfelt antidote to a fast-changing and often troubling world.’ Annie Worsley, author of Windswept  ‘This gorgeous book is made of wisdom and love, and it will hold you close, whatever life may bring.’ Kerri Andrews, author of Pathfinding  ‘There is so much healing to be found in this book’s soothing wisdom.’ Marchelle Farrell, author of Uprooting ‘A beautiful mixture of memoire and medicine cabinet, this is a book that soothes the soul as it helps the reader to reconnect with the power or plants and the natural world. A great insight into the apothecary growing all around us, and the power of listening to our own needs.’ Marian Boswall, The Kindest Garden‘Beautifully tender - full of love and life and longing, and tied to the plants that scatter her landscape - Victoria Bennett’s The Apothecary by the Sea offers us plants to heal and a voice to guide us though turbulent times.’ Maya Jordan, Chopsy: The Resistance Tales of a Working-Class Woman ‘Bennett is the real deal – skilled in making balms, tinctures and brews. In the ebb and flow of nature-writing as a genre, garden memoirs abound but few are like this, cultivated in a small, scrubby patch with little or no budget, and therefore relatable.’ Gutter ‘A beautifully written paean to the healing powers of nature, and an ode to the brutal climate of Orkney.’ Scottish Field‘The Apothecary By The Sea is a mix between memoir, almanac and herbal grimoire following Victoria’s journey settling into life in Orkney. Victoria’s gentle writing style guides you through her story, with her history as a writer of poetry shining through her prose … The book is also a message of hope and light in the darkness. In a time where the world can be an uncertain and sometimes dark place, Victoria hopes that her book can help remind people that there is still beauty in the world, and often in the most overlooked places.’ The Orcadian‘Since creating an apothecary garden in Cumbria, Bennett and her family have taken a leap of geography and faith to establish themselves on Orkney and to create another garden, inspired by island folklore and the elemental landscapes. Spanning a year from the dark days of winter through luminous summer, she mixes memoir and herbal lore with advice on planting a garden of our own.’ Saga‘This Orkney coastal garden is a wonder to behold. It takes after its creator: nurturing, hard-working, eclectic and absolutely teeming with vitality … The Apothecary by the Sea follows a year in this abundant garden as well as including an A to Z of apothecary plants and beautifully integrated snippets of memoir.’ Homes & Interiors Scotland