{"title":"Books by Claire Gilbert","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781913368753","title":"Trust in Public Life","description":"Is the self-trust that leaders need to rule borne out of a lack of self-knowledge? How can the virtues of honesty, humility, compassion, and competence help to rebuild trust in our institutions? Is trust in each other, between groups that make up 'the people', a choice?To trust is to risk, to become vulnerable, to place the centre of our universe somewhere other that ourselves. A loss of trust, particularly in public figures and institutions, is increasingly a feature of modern life. Together these essays provide deep reflections on the nature of trust in the context of public life, agreeing that it is endangered through real encounters, not in the abstract or by force. They offer guidance on how to make those encounters real, wether they be within oneself, between people, or between institutions and the people they serve.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43172962238642,"sku":"9781913368753","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781913368753_7734ce93-feb9-47f5-a653-81889439cc11.jpg?v=1786030779"},{"product_id":"9781399807548","title":"I, Julian","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'So I will write in English, pressing new words from this beautiful plain language spoken by all. Not courtly French to introduce God politely. Not church Latin to construct arguments. English to show it as it is. Even though it is not safe to do so.'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From the author of \u003ci\u003eMiles to Go before I Sleep \u003c\/i\u003ecomes \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eI, Julian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003ethe account of a medieval woman who dares to tell her own story, battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations to do so. Compelled by the powerful visions she had when close to death, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up in a small room on the side of a church - and to write of what she has seen. The result, passed from hand to hand, is the first book to be written by a woman in English.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Tender, luminous, meditative and powerful, Julian writes of her love for God, and God's love for the whole of creation. \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Written with \u003cb\u003eprofound insight\u003c\/b\u003e, spiritual and psychological, and a rare sensitivity to the everyday world of the fourteenth century, \u003c\/i\u003eI, Julian\u003ci\u003e is a \u003cb\u003ebrilliantly illuminating \u003c\/b\u003ecompanion to one of the greatest works of spiritual writing in English.'\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003eRowan Williams\u003c\/b\u003e, Magdalene College, Cambridge University","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43605773385906,"sku":"9781399807548","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399807548_785a97ed-b8b7-48f2-aea2-66fe89e0d90f.jpg?v=1786019355"},{"product_id":"9781032593340","title":"Julian of Norwich and the Ecological Crisis","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book presents ecological insights drawn from a reading of Julian of Norwich, considering how effectively she can help us in our current plight.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685776433525,"sku":"9781032623931","price":47.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56296021721461,"sku":"9781032593340","price":171.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781032623931_5210a608-ab22-46ce-bfc0-53e5d444730e.jpg?v=1792598959"},{"product_id":"9781529359732","title":"Miles To Go Before I Sleep","description":"\u003ci\u003e'Claire's honest, raw, authentic diaries will be a source of comfort to many'- Miranda Hart  \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At the age of 54 Claire Gilbert was diagnosed with myeloma, an incurable cancer of the blood. The prognoses ranged from surviving only a few months to living for several decades, with no guarantee of which outcome was to be hers. It was a shocking diagnosis into uncertainty, or rather, into only one certainty: death. But Claire discovered that facing her own mortality was liberating.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She discovered this through writing letters. Claire asked her siblings and a small group of friends if they would let her write to them with total honesty about what she was going through, as she was going through it. These letters turned out to be a great solace, and gradually her group of 'dear readers' has grown; what she had to say wasn't just of value to herself, but to others, too.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The letters chart Claire's journey through diagnosis, chemotherapy and a brutal round of stem cell treatment, and end with the rest of the UK joining her in her immuno-compromised isolation in March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Unflinchingly honest and wide-ranging, Claire writes about the restorative role of nature, politics, poetry, humour - and a restless exploration of the spiritual dimension of death and dying.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is an honest, luminous account of what Claire has gone through and what keeps her going, a deeply spiritual meditation on life and suffering, and an exploration of how faith is no simple solace but provides a whole new plane of meaning during these liminal moments.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Claire Gilbert's account of the progress of her fatal illness, from diagnosis through various traumatic treatments, is in turn candid, painful, funny, tender, fierce and philosophical. But most of all it is a marvellously enjoyable read depicting the human spirit at its finest: defiant, exuberant, joyous. An example to us all that we can triumph over the cruellest adversity'- Salley Vickers\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":56303567602037,"sku":"9781529359732","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57688204181877,"sku":"9781529359725","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529359732.jpg?v=1792686128"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-claire-gilbert.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}