The Farthest Shore is available to pre-order – get 25% off signed copies
My next book takes a step towards publication
On the 6th of February 2019, I took my first step on a long-distance hike that would change my life: the Cape Wrath Trail in winter. Even before I reached the end at Cape Wrath I knew that this was a story that needed to be told, that demanded to be told, and today I’m delighted to announce that The Farthest Shore, my book about this journey (and the greater journey it’s all really about), is now available to order. As subscribers to my newsletter, you can get 25% off the list price by pre-ordering directly through Vertebrate Publishing’s website (details below).
The book’s official launch date is September the 2nd, 2021, and we are trying to arrange a good old-fashioned book launch in a bookshop – hopefully up in the Highlands. I’ll share more as soon as it’s confirmed.
To pre-order your copy, click here and use the promotional code THEFARTHESTSHORE25 at the checkout. This entitles you to a further 5% discount on top of the 20% off already offered by Vertebrate Publishing for those who order directly from their website. UK delivery is free.
This isn’t my first book, but it feels like a reset and a new beginning. Those of you who have followed me for a long time may remember The Only Genuine Jones, Crowley’s Rival and The Atholl Expedition – novels I self-published back in the distant past of 2012-14. I’ve also published a coffee-table book on trekking in Europe. The Farthest Shore is very different to all of these. I now see my early books as clumsy and naive, and I removed them from sale long ago – but you’ll find echoes of them throughout The Farthest Shore, which I believe represents a maturation of my mountain writing. It’s the work I’m at once proudest of and most unsure of. Putting it out there feels like a leap of faith. It’s much more than just a hiking memoir, more than nature writing, and includes some of the most personal writing I have ever published, shining a light into corners of my soul that I have spoken to very few about. I think of The Farthest Shore as my first real book.
Vertebrate were my first choice when I started the process of turning my story into a book, and they have been wonderful to work with. I’m grateful to my editor Emma Lockley for her sensitive and perceptive editorial help, to Jon Barton for believing in the project from day one, and to Lorna and Shona for getting things moving with our launch plan. Most of all I’m grateful to my readers. Many of you asked for this book, many of you have kept asking for it, and without you this story would never have been told.
I’ll leave you with a moment from near the end of the trail:
Something, I felt absolutely certain, had been communicated to me in that instant, but I felt too stupid and oblivious to understand what I had been shown. It slipped from my grasp like the quicksilver of the whispering rapids. I felt a momentary but devastating sensation of failure, of a chance that would never come again – like a dream containing an entire lifespan that dissolves upon waking, leaving only a profound sense of loss.
Order here:
Use promo code THEFARTHESTSHORE25
Until next time,
Alex
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