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I Am Here

On Staying Alive

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I Am Here

By: Kate Armstrong
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This is a true story of survival set in the most extreme mental and physical landscapes: a journey through total breakdown, the depths of loss and the beauty and danger of high mountains

In her early thirties, Kate Armstrong was on top of the world: building a future with the love of her life, thriving in a fast-moving career and climbing spectacular mountain peaks. Then, out of the blue, she had a shattering breakdown, fell into near-fatal addiction and almost destroyed her marriage.

A decade later, she’s hit by catastrophe of a whole different order. Unable to find her way forward, she turns to her past experiences for lessons in how to survive. Then, the mountains grounded her. Now, they become her salvation.

I Am Here ranges between high-altitude Alpine ice peaks and psychiatric hospitals, the wilds of Scotland and basement AA meetings, London backstreets and the fierce beauty of the remote Himalaya. It is a love story. It is a testament to those who care for and guide us. Above all it demonstrates the wisdom that can come from deep pain – and how it can help us through whatever lies ahead.

The mountains of rock and ice were so much more straightforward than the mountains of my mind

© Kate Armstrong 2027 (P) Penguin Audio 2027

 Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Ecosystems & Habitats Grief & Loss Marriage & Long-Term Partnerships Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Personal Development Relationships Science
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Critic reviews

Armstrong’s visceral descriptions of scaling peaks and unravelling minds establish her as a writer to watch out for. Hers is a voice that refuses to look away, even when the terrain turns treacherous. I was gripped (LEMN SISSAY)
An extraordinary book (LOUISA YOUNG, author of The Golden Hours and You Left Early)
Kate Armstrong isn't just a good writer: she's the survivor of all survivors, and she sets us at the heart of the struggle between the psyche and its attempts to hide from itself. Utterly involving, moving and brilliant (M. JOHN HARRISON, Booker-shortlisted author of The End of Everything)
Gripping... Searingly honest, brutally real... Lessons for all of us are woven into Armstrong's beautiful prose (MANNI COE, author of Sunday Times bestseller brother.do.you.love.me)
An extraordinary story... propulsive and intoxicating... I could not put it down (LILY DUNN, author of Sins of My Father)
I thought I knew what it meant for climbing literature to embody 'courage'. Then I read this bold, brilliant book and expanded my definition: I Am Here is rare and remarkable (HELEN MORT, author of A Line Above the Sky)
A landmark memoir with the power to stun, horrify and inspire -- often within a single sentence. Brilliantly written and intricately constructed, it is a testament to deepening self-knowledge and the brute will to survive. An amazing, unique book (TOBY LITT, author of Patience)
Elegant, moving and filled with devastating moments of grace, I Am Here announces Armstrong as a genuinely fresh and important voice in mountain writing (Adam Butterworth, Alpine Journal)
Kate Armstrong's prose is lucid and mesmerising, and her story completely devastating. And yet, I felt strangely emboldened after reading I Am Here. Days later, it is still on my mind (EMILY CHAPPELL, author of Where There's A Will)
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