Jacqueline Yallop is the author of three critically acclaimed novels and three works of non-fiction. She lives in West Wales and teaches creative writing at the University of Aberystwyth.
In what might seem a literally dark time in a metaphorically dark year, Yallop's book makes a welcome companion, gently and thoughtfully enquiring. * The Spectator * Often poetic ... highly-researched and thought-provoking. * New Scientist * A beautiful read, scholarly yet personal, full of ideas and yet intensely sensuous and tangible. -- George Szirtes This is cultural history at its most accessible, with plenty of illustration, analysis and cogent examples of a subject which affects us all in one way or another. * Nation Cymru *