Twelve Moons: The most beautiful and inspiring memoir you’ll read

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It is clear from her writing that Giles is a very anxious and often deeply unhappy person, and whether it was her intention or not, this element of her character held centre stage throughout the narrative. They are beautifully drawn and highlight the necessity of place in allowing fullness of life to take place whilst providing restoration for all the protagonists. 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. Despite articulating trepidation and uncertainty and doubt, her bravery and tenacity shine from the page as does her deep love for her children. Caro Giles lives on the far edge of the country, with her tribe of daughters: The Mermaid, The Whirlwind, The Caulbearer and The Littlest One.

Descriptions of the natural world permeate the novel, charting the ebbs and flows of the family’s life across a whole year. Caro’s world revolves around caring for her eldest, who is autistic and recovering from an illness which has temporarily robbed her of the use of her legs. Finally, in addition to these conflicting emotions regarding the tone of the book, I found myself a little frustrated by some repetitious phrasing and inconsistencies in terms of timelines. To access your ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose. However, that being said, considering this is Giles' first book, Twelve Moons is a debut masterpiece.Five stars are not enough for this amazingly powerful book: how mental health of children, the author's own health following recent divorce unravels their lives inn the time of covid. In Caro Giles’s case that’s the reality of divorce and the everyday needs of her tribe of four daughters.

This memoir of Caro Giles is written in such a tone that you can't help but fall in love with her family, the moon and the landscapes of Northumberland. The cycle of the same routines we all go through, even when big things change, we still carry on doing the same daily things with the same people. No woman should be so defined by her relationship with a man that four years later, she still can't bear to think of him. The big messages of this book - love, recovery, independence, tenacity - are important for all of us. Compounding this was the fact that every positive element to the book was immediately followed by some deeply morose emotion or thought that made it quite hard to read at times.

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.

A delicately-handled, lyrical exploration of divorce, recovery of self and fierce maternal devotion. Their tribe is a force that is at once fragile, but also characterised by strength and togetherness. Sometimes the use of candles and their mystical power is a bit too much, but this mother's fortitude is incredible.Over the course of the year, the moon becomes her fellow traveller through dark times, and companion through joyful ones and even when the sky is wreathed in cloud, the moon is still felt in the pull of the tides. The chapters lead us through the year’s moons and their phases, which unites things cleverly - an unexpectedly grounding device. An incredibly beautiful book, simultaneously a love letter to Northumberland and a seasonal portray as life as a woman/parent/carer. Written with intelligence - a blend of lightness, elegance, and even the elegiac, Twelve Moons immerses you in the Northumbrian landscape, with excursions to other quiet places.