I eventually fell into a firm routine with this book, reading only a chapter a day or so, and savouring the insights within - just mulling them over like turning a lovely pebble in my mind’s hand - and just allowing myself to empathise and feel. Britton, Wesley (2012-02-26). "Music Review: Big Brother and the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin - Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968". seattlepi.com . Retrieved 2020-10-13. Kiran Sidhu never thought she could leave London, but when her mother passes away, she knows she has to walk out of her old life and leave her toxic family behind. She chooses fresh air, an auditorium of silence and the purity of the natural world – and soon arrives in Cellan, a small, remote village nestled in the Welsh valleys.

I read this book when I was on a “micro sabbatical” from work. I couldn’t decide whether to buy the book or not, but something inside me told me that I should. I wouldn’t regret it. I found myself following the illustrated map at the beginning of the book so I could picture Kiran on her daily walking route, visiting the neighbouring farms and landmarks as she did. Among others, there are Donna and Andy who run the farm and B&B Caer Cadwgan, Sarah, Rod and Glen who share the same driveway as Kiran and Simon (great for sledging down), colourful Hara who brings the party to life, Andrew who tells the SAS story, Tess who takes Kiran swimming on New Year’s Day. Kiran found that there were other neighbours, too, who could offer her life lessons. ‘They were very open to life, to the simplicity of it. Sometimes participating in life means simply to stand still in it.’This is a community of neighbours who rally together, show kindness, and each of them give something to Kiran’s healing that is special and unique. The people make the place and the place makes the people. It is a brave write and heartbreaking to read, the emotions stifled in the heavy air which cloaked the hospital room. The song ends in a sad verse about emigration. There is a fine recording of this song from Luke Kelly of The Dubliners.

Max Hunter recorded Mrs Norma Kisner of Springdale Arkansas, singing a fragment of Unconstant Lover in 1960. [20]

It is an evocative, well written account of Kieran’s journey of grief. It is divided into the seasons; spring, when she and her husband moved to West Wales, summer, autumn and winter. Kiran Sidhu describes her natural environment in vivid detail and the human connections she forms. Her life and person gradually opens like a flower.” Integrated into the narrative is her bereavement journey. a b Sullivan, Steve (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. Vol.3 and 4. Rowman and Littlefield. pp.61–62. ISBN 978-1-4422-5449-7. From the writer of The New Yorker short film, Heart Valley - WINNER OF 2023 BAFTA CYMRU AWARDS FOR BEST SHORT FILM When I started reading it, I found it quite hard - not because the writing was bad, but because the words were trying to tap into something in me that I had suppressed - a connection to a palate of emotions that, largely because of my focus on work, that I had learned to ignore. Unconstant Lover". The Max Hunter Folk Song Collection. Missouri State University . Retrieved 19 April 2017.