I follow a lot of people that make their income through traditional skills on Instagram. The other day an account I follow shared that the book of charcoal burner was coming out. It's not often I'll pre-order a book but I decided to do it while I was thinking about it.
The book follows Ben's journey from high paid ad man in London to a charcoal burner living in a hooped trailer in Devon. It talks about his struggles with depression and how he came to learn his trade and spend time in the woods to help deal with this.
It's full of some great characters Ben has worked with while learning to work in the woods, some of which really reminded me of people I had worked with myself.
This book is beautifully written. I read it very quickly as I just loved his writing so much, such an easy read. It really transported you there into the woods with him. He paints such a scene with his words and weaves it with a simple story and a bit of folklore effortlessly that it's hard to believe it's his first book.
My only criticism is it finishes too soon for my liking, I want to know more and where his life takes him next, but maybe I'll have to wait for the next instalment?
Highly recommend. If he writes another I'll buy it straight away.
