{"product_id":"gaining-ground-a-life-changing-book-samantha-harvey-9780571399888","title":"Gaining Ground: 'A life-changing book' (Samantha Harvey)","description":"\u003cp\u003eUnearthed after half a century, this radical portrait of a woman who leaves her family to live alone in a woodland cabin will pierce the heart of anybody who has ever wanted to escape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e'I've never read a book so authentically frightening . . .  Beneath the radical disquiet is a beautiful hymn to the undeniable hearts and minds of women.'\u003cb\u003e Sarah Hall\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI swear I loved them all, and I did the best I could. And then I left them, left all of it.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbra has a perfect-seeming life as a wife and \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003emother: until one day, she walks away, leaving \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eonly a note asking her family not to look for her.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn a woodland cabin, her new life alone begins. There are no mirrors, no clocks, no memories: just the squirrels breathing in the forest, and silence of vegetables growing.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eYears later, a young woman arrives, and the past-flashes begin. Daughter? A strange word. Is this her? And what will this mean?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRediscovered after almost half a century, Joan Barfoot's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eGaining Ground \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e(1978) is a both a radical meditation on living on your own terms and an exquisite work of art. It calls to anybody who has ever wanted to escape - who has asked what it costs to be wild, to be sane, to be free.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'One of those rare books which put you in touch with yourself as deftly and as deeply as \u003ci\u003eThe Bell Jar.\u003c\/i\u003e' Nell Dunn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9780571399888\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: Main\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 03 Nov 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Faber \u0026amp; Faber\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 19.8(H)x12.9(L)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eJoan Barfoot (born 1946) is the author of eleven novels. Her books, which reviewers have celebrated as 'harrowing and hilarious' and 'gloriously subversive', have been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. A recipient of the Marian Engel Award, she has also been a journalist during much of her career. She lives in London, Ontario, Canada.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This is a propulsive meditation on what we want and why we want it...I couldn't put it down.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Emily Temple, \u003cem\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eAt once an indictment of traditionalism and a beautiful meditation on finding one's true path, \u003cem\u003eGaining Ground\u003c\/em\u003e should be considered a contemporary classic of feminist pastoralism.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Makenna Goodman, author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eHelen of Nowhere\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A wonderful slow burn of a book and Barfoot's originality and control remain exciting, nearly half a century on. It is great to see this reissue put the novel at the centre of things, where it belongs.\"\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--Anne Enright, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Read it and feel vicariously emboldened, and then join me in digging out more of Barfoot's 11-strong backlist.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Susie Mesure, \u003cem\u003e The Spectator\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Brilliantly unsettling....I can't remember the last novel that made me sit so uncomfortably with conflicting emotions--or admire it more for refusing to resolve them.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Johanna Thomas-Corr, \u003cem\u003e The Times (UK)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eGaining Ground\u003c\/em\u003e has been a feminist cult classic since 1978. Devoured by me as a teenager in the 1980s and now exuberantly revived by Faber, Joan Barfoot's story of a woman who leaves husband and children to strike out on her own seems as defiant and relevant today as it ever was.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Catherine Taylor, \u003cem\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[A] compulsive read... [Barfoot] writes probing and darkly comic books about ordinary people being pushed to their extremes.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Alice Vincent, \u003cem\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An intricately, perfectly mapped journey into self-liberation. It ventures the question: how to live with, rather than against, oneself - an enormous, shimmering question that now lives inside me. I think it will for the rest of my days.\" \u003cstrong\u003e--Samantha Harvey, author of \u003cem\u003eOrbital\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Absolutely stunning. One of the great novels of the twentieth century, I think, and profoundly relevant to the present. It felt like liberation, meeting Abra. And I will pack her into my heart moving forward, she has much to teach us!\" \u003cstrong\u003e--Max Porter, author of \u003cem\u003eGrief is the Thing with Feathers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A haunting book, with an outstanding sense of place and inner space: unsettling as well as memorable.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Margaret Drabble, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Seven Sisters\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A modern masterpiece: proactive, radical and deeply moving on motherhood and how we choose to build our lives.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Doireann ní Ghríofa, author of \u003cem\u003eA Ghost in the Throat\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A joyful and generative novel about running away to make a true home for a true self.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Sarah Moss, author of \u003cem\u003eGhost Wall\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A searing reminder of what we owe to ourselves.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Saba Sams, author of \u003cem\u003eGunk\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"If you want to pick a fight with yourself, pick this book. This is what the best writing does: makes you think, makes you think again, makes you think better.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Claire Kilroy, author of \u003cem\u003eSolider Sailor\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"One of those rare books which put you in touch with yourself as deftly and as deeply as \u003cem\u003eThe Bell Jar\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Nell Dunn, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Muse\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The sheer brilliance of Barfoot's writing is enough to take your breath away. She is among the best prose stylists of her generation.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eA Reader's Guide to the Canadian Novel\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Thousands of women will recognise a sister.\"\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eGood Housekeeping\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A formidable frontispiece for second-wave feminism and a wildly original novel. I've never read a book so authentically frightening, so rationally subversive and so intuitively exposing.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Sarah Hall, author of \u003cem\u003eHelm\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Thought-provoking and complex, but also full of moments of beauty and peace. It veers deftly between the beauty of the seasons and the hollowing despair of a stifled existence. Abra's dilemma electrified me. An extraordinary novel.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Katherine May, author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Electricity of Every Living Thing: a Woman's Walk In the Wild to Find Her Way Home\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Beneath its glassy surface, the currents of this book are vast and dark and dangerous. Weeks after finishing it, I still feel caught in the vortex of its desperately sad - and sadly still relevant - oppositions; still hear the silent howl of its inarticulable pain.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Lucy Caldwell, author of \u003cem\u003eDevotions\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I was gripped by this radical, deeply felt novel, finding myself increasingly immersed and moved by its fresh, insistent narrative of loss and becoming. I know this book will have a new life of being discussed, recommended and passed from friend to friend.\"\u003cstrong\u003e--Megan Hunter, author of \u003cem\u003eDays of Light\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Joan Barfoot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51528085995737,"sku":"9780571399888","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9780571399888.jpg?v=1794035324","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/gaining-ground-a-life-changing-book-samantha-harvey-9780571399888","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}