A Book of Silence

· Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Polly Lee
Audiobook
12 hr 56 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

A personal and cultural exploration of silence and its value in our lives—"[an] artful book, mixing autobiography, travel writing, meditation, and essay" (Independent, UK).



In her late forties, after a noisy upbringing as one of six children and adulthood as a vocal feminist and mother, Sara Maitland found herself living alone in the country and, to her surprise, falling in love with silence. In this fascinating, intelligent, and beautifully written book, Maitland describes how she began to explore this new love, spending periods of silence in the Sinai desert, the Scottish hills, and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye.



Maitland also delves deep into the rich cultural history of silence, exploring its significance in fairy tale and myth, its importance to the Western and Eastern religious traditions, and its use in psychoanalysis and artistic expression.



Her story culminates in her building a hermitage on an isolated moor in Galloway. "Her book is probably unique in its subject, and timely, because good, healing silence is becoming hard to find, and we may not know we need it" (Guardian, UK).

About the author

Writer and theologian Sara Maitland graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English language and literature. Before Maitland made her living as a writer, she was once an academic researcher, an interior decorator, and a dressmaker. Maitland has contributes essays and reviews to mainstream and scholarly publication, and has written or edited over 20 books including "Virtuous Magic: Women Saints and Their Meaning," "A Big Enough God: A Feminist's Search for a Joyful Theology," and "Angel Maker: The Short Stories of Sara Maitland."

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