![Writedown: Lockdown in the Galloway Glens at the Time of Covid by [Margaret Elphinstone et al]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/411scyjHw0L.jpg)
I received a copy of Writedown as member of Rose Amber’s Review Team #RBRT in return for an honest review.
I gave Writedown 4 out of 5*
Book Description:
Writedown provides a unique record of life in Galloway, south west Scotland during lockdown through the work of 22 writers in a collection of lyrical poetry, desperate rants, humour and quiet endurance. They tell the story of a community encountering unprecedented times.
My Review:
At a time when we we are once more in Lockdown/Tier whatever/ or equivalent, it was interesting to read the accounts of the twenty-two writers in the first Covid lockdown earlier this year.
This is a thought provoking collection which instantly recognises the strangeness of 2020 ( and maybe the first few months of 2021!). And yet it also shows how adaptable, as human beings, we are. However much we resent situations. These stories, accounts and poems, (which I viewed as individual diaries), reveal the uncertainty, the stoicism, the fear of unexpectedly losing the life we took for granted, the half-forgotten memories which became precious because of lost loved ones, or because of the anxiety that those times might not be repeated.
There is poignancy, humour, sadness, anger here. But, threaded throughout, there is also, a strange feeling of relief in being able to step away from normality, of not ‘having’ to do something, of not being tied to duty. And being able to look at the world around us, to see nature in all its glory; to appreciate it. In this collection I was glad to see what I saw in those months – an underlying sense of freedom
Writedown reveals a fascinating glimpse of an extraordinary time in our lives and I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any reader, as a reminder of 2020 in the years to come.
Link to buy:
Thanks so much for your review, Judith. I’m delighted you enjoyed Writedown and it clearly resonated with you. I wonder how differently we’d write about our latest lockdown?
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I loved all the entries, Mary – it did resonate with how I felt at the time. With Wales in some form of lockdown again ( how do we ever work out what we can and can’t do is beyond me, so I stay home), I feel it safest to stay indoors and write. Which is what I will do this time, – ignoring the rain and wind, feeding the birds as they chatter in the morning and walking daughter’s dog when fine. Hope all is going well with the radiotherapy – and you are reasonably okay at the moment. x
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Thank you Judith.
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A lovely review of this book, Judith. I also enjoyed it.
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Thanks, Robbie. The writers evoked so many similar feeling in me. And here we go again. Perhaps someone else will take up the cudgel for this winter’s lockdown/ restriction of activity outside. x
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Great review, Judith, of a book I loved!
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Thanks Alex, We should start one for this lockdown in Pembs? x
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