Imprint
- Hachette Books Ireland
- Hachette Books Ireland
- Hachette Books Ireland
Memoirs
The new bestseller from Michael Harding.
'In these strange days Michael Harding's route taking and wise words gently nudge us towards the future, steadying us as we navigate the great unknowns ahead' Joe Duffy
The bestselling new book from acclaimed writer and Irish Times columnist.
It's dawn and in the early morning light, Michael Harding is walking in his garden in the hills above Lough Allen in Leitrim, dreaming of the new beginning in Donegal he had planned before the world changed in the early months of 2020.
Here, in his stunning and intimate new book, we travel with Michael through this day as he looks back at a life lived within, and as part of, the Irish landscape. In doing so, he vividly brings to life what is at the heart of Irish identity: storytelling, love and human connection. With honesty, insight and tenderness, he shows that while everything has changed, that which is important remains the same; and how, in this new world, we can live with hope and faith in everything that is beautiful in the sky.
What is Beautiful in the Sky is an account of our times: a record of our past and a promise of new beginnings.
'This morning is special. The air is cleaner than it used to be. Birds sing with a deeper resonance. The apple trees shed their petals and fatten their fruit with an astonishing defiance; as if nature itself carried a coded message; everything will be OK in the end. Hope may seem lost with each new death but love has become more visible in every hospital corridor in the world.
"Let's begin again."
Praise for What is Beautiful in the Sky: A book about endings and beginnings
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Searingly honest, funny, self-deprecating, Harding's narrative seems to rest on the pulse of Ireland - Irish Times on On Tuesdays I'm a Buddhist
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A compelling memoir. Absorbing and graced with a deceptive lightness of touch ... Harding writes like an angel - Sunday Times on Hanging with the Elephant
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Hilarious, and tender, and mad, and harrowing, and wistful, and always beautifully written, A wonderful book - Kevin Barry on Staring at Lakes
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A book that champions the kindness (or at least the company of) strangers as essential for that elusive state known as happiness - RTE Guide on Talking to Strangers
Michael Harding
Michael Harding has worked in theatre as an actor, director and writer. Most widely known as the author of such plays as Strawboys, Una Pooka, Misogynist, Hubert Murray's Widow, Sour Grapes, and Amazing Grace, all produced by the Abbey Theatre, and more than a dozen other plays for leading Irish Companies, including The Kiss, Talking Through his Hat, and Swallow.
He has directed for The Abbey Theatre, The Project Arts Centre, and Red Kettle, and has worked as a performer with many distinguished theatre companies such as Siamsa Tire, Blue Raincoat, The Abbey Theatre and Gare St. Lazare.He was Writer in Association with The National Theatre in 1993, and Writer Fellow at Trinity College in 2001, and has received numerous awards for his theatre work, including The Stewart Parker Award, The Bank of Ireland RTE Award, and Best Male Performer at Dublin Theatre Fringe Festival.
His most recent work, The Tinker's Curse, toured Ireland in 2011.
He is the author of three novels: Priest, The Trouble with Sarah Gullion and Bird in the Snow.
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