Bøger af J.A. Baker

Få værker gør større indtryk på læseren end Van­drefalken. Skrevet i en overrumplende og billedrig prosa bliver den ved med at drage læseren ind i et univers af stor skønhed og destruktion. Første gang udgivet i 1967, højt elsket og prisbelønnet, men al­drig tidligere oversat til dansk. Bogen finder sted på de flade marker ved kysten i Essex, hvor J.A. Baker brugte en lang vinter på at observere og skrive om de tilflyvende gæster fra nord: Vandrefalkene. Bogen er en tidløs klassiker, der med stor poetisk kraft taler ind i nutidens store spørgsmål om menneskets naturforhold, sameksistens med andre arter og den verserende klimakrise. Bogen er forsynet med to efterord af henholdsvis filminstruktøren Werner Herzog, der betragter Vandrefalken som en af verdenslitteraturens væsent­ligste værker, og forfatteren Robert Macfarlane, som portrætterer J.A. Bakers liv og verden af fugle. “Et af de fineste værker om naturen, der nogensin­de er skrevet.” – BBC Wildlife “Et litterært mesterværk, et af det 20. århundredes fremragende eksempler på naturlitteratur.” – Independent “Et inspirerende forbillede for fremtidige forfatte­re, og en gave til naturelskere.” – Times Literary Supplement John Alec Baker blev født i 1926 i Chelmsford i Essex i Storbritannien. Man kender ikke så meget til Bakers liv. Vi ved dog, at han fra ungdommen af var stærkt præget af en alvorlig gigtsygdom, og at han blandt andet arbejdede for det britiske automobilforbund, selv om han aldrig lærte at køre bil. I stedet cyklede eller spadserede han ud i landskabet, på evig udkig efter de fugle, der sammen med hustruen Doreen blev omdrejningspunktet for hans tilværelse. Ob­servationerne samlede han i dagbøger, der blandt andet blev til Vandrefalken. Bogen indbragte ham den prestigefyldte Duff Cooper-pris og betragtes i dag som et hovedværk i det 20. århundredes naturlitte­ratur. Frem til sin død i 1986 udgav Baker én anden bog, The Hills of Summer, mens hans dagbøger og en samling af hans digte er kommet til sidenhen.Med efterord af både Werner Herzog – og Robert Macfarlane.

A long-ago trauma and a family mystery may shed light on her troubled sleep—or pull her into the darkness once and for all . . . As a child, Grace Cooper suffered from bouts of sleepwalking. Now, after the unexpected death of her husband, she’s moved back to Woodburn Cottage, her childhood home—and the sleepwalking returns. It’s all stirring up dark memories—memories that involve the disappearance of her brother Simon, who vanished one night when he was a child, and the death of her father, who fell from an upstairs window. With her mother in a care home with dementia and her sister living in a nearby village, Grace tries to settle in—but with the passage of time, the sleepwalking only becomes more regular and the blurred memories of the past only become more disturbing. Spurred on by these hazy dreamlike recollections, Grace becomes determined to find out what happened to Simon that fateful night. But digging up the past isn’t always a good idea, because you never know what skeletons you might unearth . . .

A small town in northern England is rocked by murder and scandal at the local school in this chilling novel of psychological suspense. Dominic Rose is a North Yorkshire school teacher with an antiquated hobby. He studies physiognomy, the art of judging somebody's character by their facial features and expressions. Living alone with his bedridden mother, he has spent decades pining after Clara, the love of his life, who vanished while staying with her grandparents. When Kate Winston and her family move to town, she hopes her children will fit in at school. But her son's new friend has a bad reputationand a serious grudge against their teacher, Mr. Rose. As rebellious mischief and dark secrets collide, they set in motion a chain of events that lead to terrifying consequences.

When a boy goes missing from a small English village, deadly secrets and paranoid suspicions collide in this psychological thriller.When Ashton was a child, he committed a heinous crime. Now he's back in the North Yorkshire town where the traumatic event took place, having taken a job as an art instructor. Though it's good to be home, he fears unwanted attention-especially after an older teacher recognizes him as the troubled boy from all those years ago.When eight-year-old Leo disappears on his way home from school, a desperate search begins. Then a local woman hears of Ashton's return and reports him to the police. Being added to a short list of suspects is a frightening turn of events for Ashton. But it's not nearly as terrifying as Leo's predicament: being locked in a soundproof room, wondering what his unpredictable captor will do next.