{"title":"Alexandra Harris","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlexandra Harris\u003c\/strong\u003e offers a richly detailed exploration of cultural history, blending art, literature, and biography to illuminate the changing landscapes of modern life. Her works, such as \u003cem\u003eRomantic Moderns\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Rising Down\u003c\/em\u003e, reveal the intertwined stories of creativity and social transformation with thoughtful insight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect a deep engagement with artistic figures and movements, alongside reflective narratives that uncover hidden connections in history and culture. Harris's writing invites a considered appreciation of the past’s influence on contemporary identity and expression.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-rising-down","title":"The Rising Down","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eThe Rising Down\u003c\/i\u003e by Alexandra Harris is a mesmerising exploration of memory, place, and connection through the lens of West Sussex. Returning to her childhood home, celebrated critic and cultural historian Alexandra Harris discovers a land rich with untold stories and hidden treasures. With her detective-like curiosity, Harris peels back the layers of history and brings forth the soul of West Sussex in a biography as vivid as it is enlightening.\n\nWhen Harris returned to West Sussex, she was struck by how much she took for granted about her own origins. Diving into archival records and rediscovering everyday objects, she unearths the complex and fascinating history of a place she thought she knew so well. This compelling narrative weaves through the lives of eminent figures like the painter John Constable and modernist writer Ford Madox Ford, down to the unsung local women who left behind little record of their lives. Each story holds a piece of the puzzle that forms the larger picture of this English landscape.\n\nFar beyond a simple account of West Sussex's history, \u003ci\u003eThe Rising Down\u003c\/i\u003e captures the universal struggle of thousands of lives, showcasing how personal histories reverberate through time and space. Harris's compassionate storytelling bridges the gaps between past and present, making connections from the rolling Downs to distant places including Poland, Australia, and Canada. With her thoughtful prose, she deftly moves from the particularities of one small patch of England to the grand, sweeping narratives that define human existence.\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Remarkable.'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Wonderful.'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Fascinating.'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eTELEGRAPH\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'As a portrait of a place, it's hard to better.'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eCOUNTRY LIFE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A thrill akin to discovering buried treasure.'\u003c\/b\u003e RICHARD MABEY\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Humane, humorous and joyful.'\u003c\/b\u003e RUTH SCURR\u003c\/p\u003e\n\nThrough these 'electrifying encounters,' as Harris describes them, she finds that the lives of individuals—and their choices and experiences—are profoundly connected by their shared landscapes and histories. \u003ci\u003eThe Rising Down\u003c\/i\u003e achieves what few historical narratives can: it finds 'a World in a Grain of Sand,' transforming people's understanding of what it means to belong to a place.\n\nThis beautiful, intricate portrait of West Sussex isn't just for history enthusiasts or locals; it appeals to anyone who has ever wondered about the unseen layers of their surroundings. Harris's heartfelt and erudite approach invites readers on a journey that is as captivating as it is enlightening, making \u003ci\u003eThe Rising Down\u003c\/i\u003e a must-read for those who yearn to see the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary.\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45707258003692,"sku":"9780571350520","price":65.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780571350520.jpg?v=1725897939"},{"product_id":"virginia-woolf-by-alexandra-harris-9780500297834","title":"Virginia Woolf","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn accessible introduction to a writer whose work is of timeless significance and whose unconventional life is a continuous source of fascination.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1907, when she was twenty-five and not yet a published novelist, Virginia Stephen had everything still to prove. She felt herself to be at a crossroads: 'I shall be miserable, or happy; a wordy sentimental creature, or a writer of such English as shall one day burn the pages.' Today her prose is still blazing; perhaps it burns brighter than ever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the story of how a determined young woman with a notebook became one of the greatest writers of all time. It is a story that sparkles with wit and friendship, language and love, wicked jokes and passionate appreciation of ordinary things. Hers was a life lived with intensity from moment to moment, courageous and defiant of convention, and shaped into the lasting patterns of art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConsidering each of Woolf's novels in context, this gripping account shows why, eighty years after her death, Virginia Woolf continues to haunt and inspire us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46847017713900,"sku":"9780500297834","price":31.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2799203482366.jpg?v=1758930535"},{"product_id":"romantic-moderns-by-alexandra-harris-9780500296486","title":"Romantic Moderns","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn award-winning study of England's unique and peculiarly insular variant of modernism.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile the battles for modern art and society were being fought in France and Spain, it has seemed a betrayal that John Betjeman and John Piper were in love with a provincial world of old churches and tea-shops. In this multi-award-winning book, Alexandra Harris tells a different story. In the 1930s and 1940s, artists and writers explored what it meant to be alive in England. Eclectically, passionately, wittily, they showed that 'the modern' need not be at war with the past. Constructivists and conservatives could work together, and even the Bauhaus émigré, László Moholy-Nagy, was beguiled into taking photographs for Betjeman's nostalgic \u003cem\u003eOxford University Chest\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis modern English renaissance was shared by writers, painters, gardeners, architects, critics, tourists and composers. John Piper, Virginia Woolf, Florence White, Christopher Tunnard, Evelyn Waugh, E. M. Forster and the Sitwells are part of the story, along with Bill Brandt, Graham Sutherland, Eric Ravilious and Cecil Beaton.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47471483846892,"sku":"9780500296486","price":31.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780500296486-romantic-moderns.jpg?v=1775244769"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/alexandra-harris.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}