TWELVE MOONS follows the lunar calendar, each chapter sharing a month and a moon, and shows the simmering power that lies in our often hidden daily lives. Giles also struggles with the latter and her writing is honest, sad and funny as what must be an exhausting and draining life is explored. Each word is chosen with care to vividly portray the landscapes, and to express the varying emotions experienced by the author. It is to nature that the family turn to time and time again to give them strength during troubled times, never more so than when they turn to the moon in its ever-changing guises, yet setting the rhythm to the year and ever constant in their shifting lives.

I told her that reading memoirs like this make me feel less alone, in sisterhood with others who tread the wild pathways too. Throughout the quiet turn of each month she charts the sea swimming, rock pool immersing, hill running to calm her busy brain, and of nature weaving it’s magic, grounding, nurturing and holding the whole family safe as she reclaims herself from the sadness and scars left by shattered hopes; rediscovering and unearthing the woman concealed by motherhood.Despite articulating trepidation and uncertainty and doubt, her bravery and tenacity shine from the page as does her deep love for her children. In fact, the calm and chaos of their lives mirror the ebb and flow of the tides and the lunar cycle beautifully.

Very often home schooling can be one the very few options available to parents finding themselves in this situation and as Giles highlights for all its potential joys, it can be all consuming and immersive. Overall the novel felt to be a contemplation of motherhood and the fierce love between a mother and her daughters.Inwardly tearing myself down even as I'm feeling solidarity and awe for another woman's strength and resilience. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Bound by circumstance, financial constraints, illness and the challenges of single motherhood, she has nowhere to go but the fierce landscape that surrounds her.