The Fish Ladder

A Journey Upstream

By: Katharine Norbury

Narrated by: Katharine Norbury

Katharine Norbury was abandoned as a baby in a Liverpool convent. Raised by loving adoptive parents, she grew into a wanderer, drawn by the beauty of the British countryside. One summer, following the miscarriage of a much-longed-for child, Katharine sets out – accompanied by her nine-year-old daughter, Evie – with the idea of following a river from the sea to its source. The luminously observed landscape provides both a constant and a context to their expeditions. But what begins as a diversion from grief soon evolves into a journey to the source of life itself, when a chance circumstance forces Katharine to the door of the woman who gave her up all those years ago. Combining travelogue, memoir, exquisite nature writing, fragments of poetry and tales from Celtic mythology, The Fish Ladder has a rare emotional resonance. A portrait of motherhood, of a literary marriage and a hymn to the adoptive family, this captivating story of self-discovery is, most of all, an exploration of the extraordinary majesty of the natural world. Imbued with a keen and joyful intelligence, this original and life-affirming book is set to become a classic of its genre.©2015 Katharine Norbury (P)2015 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"A beguiling amalgam of personal anecdote, travelogue and family history. Norbury attains a wonder struck prose poetry." ( The Independent)

"What a delight! The Fish Ladder is a luminous sort of book, beautifully written, darting here and there like a kingfisher over a stream. A beautiful, strange, intoxicating and utterly unique story." (Phillip Pullman)

Magnificent

A mystery story that is infused with insights and magic. KN took me along the winding tributaries of British rivers and deep into its dense woodland forests to reveal their secrets and her own.
Beautifully written and performed. Unforgettable. The sequel? I’d love to travel and find out where Kate, Evie, Rupert, Robert, Mum, Seryn are now. Thank you, Kate Norbury, for putting pen to paper and writing this magnificent memoir.