{"title":"Victoria Bennett","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVictoria Bennett\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts evocative narratives that intertwine personal history with the comforting rhythms of home and garden life. Her works blend memoir and reflection, inviting readers into intimate spaces where nature and memory flourish side by side.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn titles such as \u003cem\u003eAll My Wild Mothers\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Apothecary by the Sea\u003c\/em\u003e, Bennett explores themes of heritage, healing, and the restorative power of the natural world, making her books a haven for those who cherish thoughtful biography and the gentle art of gardening.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"all-my-wild-mothers-by-victoria-bennett-9781529398656","title":"All My Wild Mothers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A beautifully written and wisely laid out memoir… \u003cstrong\u003ea treasure map back to 'living', for those who have been away too long\u003c\/strong\u003e” — Donna Ashworth, author of \u003ci\u003eWild Hope\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cstrong\u003eLyrical and beautiful... the book we all need to read right now\u003c\/strong\u003e” — Catherine Simpson, author of \u003ci\u003eOne Body\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn intimate memoir of motherhood, herbal folklore\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ci\u003eAll My Wild Mothers\u003c\/i\u003e is more than just a memoir. It's \u003cstrong\u003ea handbook on survival\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003ea testimony to radical hope\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett learns her sister has died in a canoeing accident. In that moment, her life changes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFive years later, and struggling with the demands of motherhood, grief, and full-time care, Victoria and her family move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria. Here, in the rubble of a former industrial site, she and her young son begin to grow a wild apothecary garden: daisy, for resilience; dandelion, for strength against adversity; sow thistle, to lift melancholy; and borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eStone by stone, seed by seed, they discover that sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAll My Wild Mothers\u003c\/i\u003e is a profound exploration of grief, identity, and rediscovery; a testament that life and love persist, even when we think all is lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cstrong\u003eSpellbinding\u003c\/strong\u003e... the most moving portrait of a mother and child I've ever read” — Tanya Shadrick, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Cure For Sleep\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e*\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“An \u003cstrong\u003eimpossibly moving\u003c\/strong\u003e memoir of gardens, herbalism, and the rigours and rewards of care... It heralds the arrival \u003cstrong\u003eof an exciting new voice in nature writing\u003c\/strong\u003e” — Cal Flyn, author of \u003ci\u003eIslands of Abandonment\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“A \u003cstrong\u003estunning\u003c\/strong\u003e meditation on the joy of nurturing (and of getting your hands dirty). It is \u003cstrong\u003ea love letter to mothering and nature and mother nature\u003c\/strong\u003e, which bursts with wisdom, humility and hope. The writing is \u003cstrong\u003elyrical and beautiful\u003c\/strong\u003e... exactly the book we all need to read right now... What a wonderful book” — Catherine Simpson, author of \u003ci\u003eWhen I Had A Little Sister\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“Exquisitely written... \u003cstrong\u003ethe most moving portrait of a mother and child I've ever read\u003c\/strong\u003e... This is a book of passionate resistance to everything in modern life that wants us to stay neat and small and fearful” — Tanya Shadrick, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Cure for Sleep\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cstrong\u003eBeautiful and life-affirming\u003c\/strong\u003e experience. A memoir written with tremendous care for the reader” — Jini Riddy, author of \u003ci\u003eWanderland\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“Prismatically beautiful in its honesty and telling... \u003cstrong\u003ea wonderful book. An apothecary of love\u003c\/strong\u003e” — Nicola Chester, author of \u003ci\u003eOn Gallows Down\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46797638762732,"sku":"9781529398656","price":29.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/0608e93ebd121cea3bdde61f49d225fc.jpg?v=1757234188"},{"product_id":"the-apothecary-by-the-sea-by-victoria-bennett-9781783969340","title":"The Apothecary by the Sea","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the years of early motherhood and elderly caregiving over, Victoria faces a time of change. She and her husband decide to take a leap, moving five hundred miles north of everything they know, to the northern Scottish islands of Orkney, where the winters are long and the summer a perpetual light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUprooted and in an unfamiliar landscape, Victoria instinctively returns to the small, quiet work of growing, setting out to transform her scrappy backyard into an apothecary garden by the sea, inspired by Orkney’s folklore, ancient landscapes and wild nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShaped by tides and storms, wild plants and seaweeds, she creates a biodiverse backyard sanctuary filled with micro-habitats, wildflowers, and apothecary herbs. Here she crafts teas, tinctures and balms inspired by the surrounding soil and seas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs the year closes and the endless summer light turns once more to dark, Victoria finds belonging not just in the garden she has nurtured, but in the landscape that has quietly embraced her and called itself home. Here, at the wild edge of things, she is reclaiming parts of herself long set aside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Apothecary by the Sea\u003c\/em\u003e is a journey of transformation and rediscovery, blending the art of gardening with the enduring magic of nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47456422002924,"sku":"9781783969340","price":46.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781783969340.jpg?v=1774862760"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/victoria-bennett.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}