A moving tale of resistance and renewal, from the acclaimed author of Twelve Words for Moss

Two friends, Kenjo and Leah, swoosh through the lush forests at the edge of their village in Kenya. Imitating hornbills and lying on the mossy boulders that line the river, the young girls are watched over by a canopy of ancient trees, whose roots reach into the past, present and future.

But this glittering countryside is quickly becoming a haunting. As the armed rebellion against the British colonial regime intensifies, the forest is subsumed in a destructive conflict, disturbing the profound balance of life it nourishes and knowledge it preserves. Forced from their homes, the friends are separated by oceans and decades. Like the branches that once sheltered them, they may be twisted and buckled by violence, but they will also, somehow, endure.

This tale of courage, survival and restoration captures the healing - and destructive - power of time and unearths the hidden traces it leaves behind.

About the Author
Elizabeth-Jane Burnett is a poet whose work explores environmental issues through creative writing. She is the author of The Grassling, an exploration of memory and natural history, as well as Twelve Words for Moss, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Wainwright Prize.

Reviews
Praise for Twelve Words for Moss * - *
Exquisite, luminous and quietly radical... so electric and so alive. It makes the world more beautiful and dimensional and vibrant... utterly unique and refreshing -- Lucy Jones, author of Matrescence
A fascinating, subtle and risk-taking book -- Robert Macfarlane
Hybridity (of form, subject) is what makes Elizabeth-Jane Burnett's work sing, beguile -- Sinead Gleeson, author of Constellations
A masterclass in the art of prose writing -- Sharon Blackie, author of If Women Rose Rooted



Book Information
ISBN 9780241702000
Author Elizabeth-Jane Burnett
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Particular Books
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 474g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 146mm * 35mm