Clinging to the Crags

Synopsis

‘I know you and this place. You’re like a hefted sheep. If you come in, you’ll never leave.’ At heart, this memoir is about not leaving home. Except when a father believes in male primogeniture and you’re a daughter, the threat of expulsion hangs like the sword of Damocles. Funny, poignant, sharp and sweet, this memoir is what the author has salvaged after the sword dropped. You'll sometimes wish you'd been there, and sometimes be pretty glad you weren’t.

Praise for this Book

‘Wry, witty, direct, with a continual sense of surprise and a miraculous freshness, this memoir, really a deep-rooted love story about place, family and an old world drawing to an end, beats any fiction.’ —Michael Schmidt, author of ‘The Novel: a Biography’

‘A wonderful portrayal of an eccentric, rambunctious family who inhabit the world of the Not-So-Grand house. I firmly believe that Katharine Grant had as much fun writing about her colourful clan as I had reading about them all.’ —Kirsty Wark, BAFTA Fellow

Praise for Previous Work

‘(On Sedition) Grant at times writes like Jane Austen on crack cocaine ... but entirely, refreshingly modern, entirely herself.’ —Tom Adair, Scotland on Sunday

‘(On Sediton) [Grant] writes with wit, verve and not a little mischief.’ —Antonia Senior, The Times

‘(On Sediton) The novel’s epigrammatic voice ... is another of its delights, detached in tone but delivering what are often dark ironies with memorable brevity and cleverness.’ —Publishers Weekly

‘(On Sedition) A properly subversive and quite unforgettable novel.’ —Lucy Scholes, The Guardian

‘(On Sedition) Grant has rambunctious fun ... there is phrase making here of high order, wise and funny arrangements of words that linger in the imagination.’ —Jonathan Barnes, Literary Review

‘(On Sedition) A subversive and thrilling gothic tale, it will keep you up all night.’ —Andrea Wulf, The New York Times

‘(On Sedition) This is an original, winningly imagined tale.’ —Daily Mail

‘(On Sedition) A sly, witty, deliciously knowing treat.’ —Metro

‘(On Sedition) Funny, witty, melancholy, rowdy, elegant and kick-ass.’ —Marie Claire

‘(On Sedition) This is a wonderful read from a born storyteller.’ —Chris Cleave, chair of the Desmond Elliott prize 2014