Ash Before Oak, Paperback

Ash before Oak is a novel in the form of a fictional journal written by a solitary man on a secluded Somerset estate. Ostensibly a nature diary, chronicling the narrator's interest in the local flora and fauna and the passing of the seasons, Ash before Oak is also the story of a breakdown told slantwise, and of the narrator's subsequent recovery through his reengagement with the world around him. Written in prose that is as precise as it is beautiful, winner of the 2018 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize, Jeremy Cooper's first novel in over a decade is a stunning investigation of the fragility, beauty and strangeness of life.

A mesmerizing exploration of the natural world and depression, this edition will appeal to fans of nature writing, and of Robert Macfarlane and Helen Macdonald.

Jeremy Cooper is a writer, journalist, and broadcaster who has written and published widely on art and antiques. He has appeared regularly on BBC's Antiques Roadshow, was co-presenter of Radio 4's The Week's Antiques, and is the author of four novels and several works of non-fiction on art and design.