Heartwarming and raw

Thank you for this book. Both fills you with warmth and exposes realities. Shows you how rubbish people can be but also how thoughtful and giving others are. Really enjoyed it and want to know what happens next ❤️❤️

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Superb listen

This book resonated in so many ways. The fears, joys, challenges ... Thank you.

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Thoroughly enjoyable

I found it an easy listen, interesting and liked that even though it feels like a fiction it’s roots are from truth and experience. Hearty and encouraging, especially for us youngens who find ourselves in similar predicaments

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Beautiful writing and narration

I loved the singing at the end it made me cry. I have a tiny summer house in my little garden which I can feel close to nature in my own way.

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Great book and very relatable

Catrina perfectly articulates the feeling of rootlessness and insurmountable odds against home ownership in this country. I found this book very inspiring, because I spend much of my time trying to think my way out of the problem and get nowhere, whereas Catrina is someone who is living it, who is braver than many of us, and fought not to give up her freedom. It brings to mind the saying 'be the change you want to see in the world.' She did not compromise, as so many of us do.
Reading this book on one hand made me angry at the situation in the UK, especially when thinking about the rights we used to have to make a living off the land. The land does and should belong to all of us, and yet it does not.
On the other hand, this book gives me hope, because I feel its on the edge of a tide of voices yet to come. As more and more people especially the younger generation grow up to see the odds stacked against them, its only a matter of time before the wave has to break.

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2 people found this helpful

Inspirational

It feels wrong to describe the searingly honest account of someone re-building their life on very stark terms as 'inspirational' but the way Catrina describes her journey, and the things she learned about herself and the world we live in is nothing less than inspiring. Candid about her often crippling fears and anxieties, yet resolutely brave and determined to have the freedom to really live her own life, Catrina offers a model for a different kind of existence - unshackled from the trappings of our very consumerist society. The book really struck a chord, as I'm sure it will with many others of a similar age tapped behind a desk or 'living' in a barely affordable rented beige box of a house. It's a meditation on what it means to find a 'home' and a blueprint for starting out towards that goal by changing the way you think about everything; from freedom to wealth. Her words and musings will stay with me for a very long time, I hope one day they may even lead me 'home'.

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Real simple living

I loved this book, because it shows the reality of the simple life that so many aspire to yet Catrina was doing it because she had to, it was all her nature allowed her to do. There were so many moments in it where I felt recognised - she said she read Walden and felt that someone was voicing her thoughts, and I felt the same about her words. It’s not just about living in a shed but about work patterns, and homelessness, and life really. About how it’s stacked against some people and about how for some people that’s ok, they don’t need to play the game of materialism or status. I’m going to buy a paper copy to read again and mark up, but I’m very glad I listened to the audio version in Catrina’s own voice.

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A trully beautiful book

A lovely book, i could not stop listening - absolutely beautiful and in places bitingly truthful.

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Bittersweet story of going against the ‘norm’

I envied Catrina’s desire to step off the world and find happiness in her father’s old shed. In an area where second homes predominate and prices prohibit those born in the area to get on the housing ladder, she fought hard to live on her own terms and be at one with the environment and elements. That she had that ripped away from her was heartbreaking.

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Enjoying and insightful definitely full of heart.

Enjoying and insightful definitely full of heart. i listend to it very quickly. I admire the strength and conviction of the author. The musical and atmospheric sounds really added the the novel. I hope she is still enjoying her shedlife in Cornwall.

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1 person found this helpful