The Hollow Land

Written by Jane Gardam

Narrated by Mike Rogers

Jane Gardam, celebrated author of the Old Filth trilogy, brings her bright, incisive prose to an altogether different, more curious world in The Hollow Land, winner of the Whitbread Book Award.

These stories capture the beauty of the barren Cumbrian countryside, and among its few inhabitants, the lives of two young boys, Bell Teesdale and Harry Bateman. Bell, from a farming family,
has been raised in the dialect, hard work, and myth of the fells. His new friend Harry is a tourist whose family vacations there every year. The pair’s inseparable friendship provides a series of delightful
adventures rendered with Gardam’s gorgeous detail and sure use of humor. Bell and Harry look for every opportunity to discover ancient grounds and mysteries, like the history of the Egg Witch. And
everyone is curious about the Household Name, the wildly famous Londoner who takes up residence at Light Trees Farm. Here as always, Gardam’s writing displays a marvelous spirit with confident ease.

These are memorable stories, alive and sparkling, written as only Jane Gardam could write them. Her love for the “hollow land” and its people is evident in every line: readers of all ages will be
persuaded to share this heartfelt connection by the vividness of her writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781705013540

Reviews for The Hollow Land

[ma_washigeri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thought re-reading this would be a good follow-up to Robert McFarlane's Underland. And indeed the naming of places and things and actions with local words brings the first story leaping into life. That first story is a hard act to follow but the author took me with her. I'm reading this near the start of the coronavirus lockdown in the Peak District which is also a hollow land with limestone caverns and and mining from Roman times but also active in the present and stripping out whole hillsides, even whole hills. I had forgotten the 'crisis' that towards the end returns the world to horse and cart and steam trains. In this uncertain time it was a comforting book to read. In some ways a very adult book but has the sense of completeness and fairness that escapes us in the adult world but feels very fitting here.

[lukerik-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This can be enjoyed equally by older children and adults. There's a real sense of place. The opening chapter has an outstanding description of natural beauty. There's gentle humour throughout that makes you smile rather than laugh. It was a little rose-tinted and sentimental for my taste and lacked bite.

[froxgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Allegedly YA, this book from my favorite author would not be of interest to an average 14 or 15 year old, so if you see a teen reading "The Hollow Land", you can assume they are exceptional.Jane Gardam's 1981 set of linked stories, rereleased in a new edition in 2015, is a brief, lovely burst of superb humor and pathos. Beginning when the Bateman family from London leases Light Trees, a farm in Cumbria, England, from the owners, the Teesdales, the stories feature the adventures of Harry Bateman and Bell Teesdale, city boy and country mouse. They meet up with gypsies, fields of icicles, and are almost lost forever in an old mine, which gives name to The Hollow Land.Neighbors and friends, haying and sheep, grannies and haints, all are grist for Gardam's flowing and gently humorous observations. The final story starts with a disaster but ends heroically, leaving the reader with a sigh of vast contentment at having more Gardam yet to go. She is 86 and the author of 25 books.