Description

Year after year the family returns to the lake. The children, barefoot and free, explore its sun-drenched wilderness… The summer Bruce turns ten seems, at first, like any other: swimming out to the raft, watching the gulls, frogs and herons, catching crayfish. But just when he thinks that life is perfect, everything begins to change, and over the course of two months both the harshness of the adult world and the patterns of the natural reveal themselves.Barefoot at the Lake is not only a beautifully written boy’s-eye view of the animals, humans and landscape of his youth, it is also delightfully funny, with a moving wisdom at its heart.

Publisher Review

`A long, hot summer's day of a book -full of wonderful stories, poignant memories and acute observations of the natural world.' Kate Humble | `Enchantingly written. Gently and lovingly, Bruce Fogle's writing highlights something we are in danger of losing for ever: that we can understand ourselves most profoundly only in relation to the wilderness.' Ruth Padel | `In this glorious memoir of boyhood holidays, he proves himself to be a craftsman of a writer ... It's a book full of quiet wisdom, and also an inspiring account of how an adult vocation can grow from the formative experiences of childhood.' Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller