Product Description

I can breathe deeply again, sleep soundly once more like I remember as a child, and I realise why now. I have found my way back to the sound of water… Moon Daisy spans the Atlantic and the years, a story of roots and ghosts, music and nature. Violin virtuoso Jessica Healey sits in her London flat thinking of killing herself, when the phone rings and there begins a rare and beautiful English journey. Through a 19th century orphan's journal she finds herself carried to a lost world of water gypsies and teeming wildlife. The Norfolk wind blows to her soul, and the secret of her very being is revealed as their two lives, separated by a century, weave closer and closer … until they touch.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #265245 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 313 pages

About the Author
Author Martin Kirby, whose last book No Going Back - Journey to Mother s Garden has been translated into Dutch, Portuguese and Catalan, is a former UK daily newspaper deputy editor and journalist specialising in local and natural history. For six years he has been based in Catalonia near Barcelona, Spain, where he writes books as well as articles for newspapers and magazines in the UK and abroad. He is also a farmer s husband. He and partner Maggie Whitman have two children - Ella, 6, and Joe Joe, 7 - and the family and their ecological grape and olive farm, Mother s Garden, were seen by millions in the very first, and a subsequent, episode of the hugely popular Channel 4 series No Going Back. Martin is currently completing a novel set in Catalonia and a follow-up to No Going Back.

Customer Reviews

You must not miss this
Staggeringly good. "No Going Back", an earlier book by Martin Kirby, was an interesting look into another way of life and into the bravery that made it possible. Count The Petals Of The Moon Daisy is an altogether new sort of writing. The book is a revelation of sensitivity, a descriptive prose that way outshines most modern writers. Many writers try to describe situations, places, people. But few get anywhere near the reality and totalness of Moon Daisy. It is all so incredibly real. I can see the people, the inside of each building is clear to see, and the water, the boats, the broad, flat wetlands are beautiful in a way I had never expected. I thought that the broads were featureless and boring. But Martin shows me that I was wrong. And how can you not fall in love with Jess? I did. She is so soft and vulerable. The story, along with the quite fascinating historical content and the clear painting of the places is reminiscent of Charles Dickens. Its almost Dickens 150 years later. He would certainly have recognised in Martin Kirby a fellow and worthy successor.
The downside is Amazon. They advertise the book at 8.99. But if you try to buy it they will charge you 9.48. And as it continues to be impossible to contact Amazon by e-mail to get them to sort themselves out, if you want a copy of Count The Petals Of The Moon Daisy, go to the publishers web site www.pegasuspublishers.com. They will sell you a copy for the real price and a reasonable postage cost

A wonderful and well written story
I finished reading this book last night and it passed the 'no matter how tired I am, I will stay up until I get to the end' test, by which all books should be judged. It's a wonderful and well written story and will be enjoyed by anyone who has an appreciation of the countryside, for music or a good story. I read Kirby's first book 'No Going Back - Journey to Mother's Garden' some years ago after watching the programme on channel 4 about giving up the rat-race in the UK and emigrating with his young family to a mountain farm in Spain. I liked Kirby's style then and it has translated well into fiction. Its a clever story - tying in two main characters and their lives in different time periods, one struggling with loss, alcholism and damaged relationships, the other living in another time but with challenges of her own. The plot builds through the book and their stories become entwined before reaching an unexpected conclusion which leaves you feeling satisfied, and somewhat pleased at yourself for 'getting it'.

Buy it. Read it at home, on holiday - wherever, but expect some late nights.

Peace in a hurried world.
A book that can fill your days with beauty, exhibiting a connection to a well-loved landscape and celebrating the values of compassion and humanity with distilled wisdom. A lyrical,quintessentially English novel, beautifully crafted.