‘This is a terrific book… funny, moving, sad, engaging, uncomfortable, highly readable… In fact I think it is one of the most accomplished of the many books I have read for The Literary Consultancy.’
Karl French. Writer, editor and journalist.
‘I truly enjoyed reading this wonderful memoir. Jo’s family has an extraordinary story that is brilliantly told here… It reminded me of the high society writing of Truman Capote given that it has an entertaining nugget of scandal and eccentricity of practically every page. In fact, its virtues are so many – funny one-liners, charming self-presentation, dramatic flair – that I could spend considerable space itemising them.’
Benjamin Evans. Journalist, editor and reviewer for the Observer, Guardian and Sunday Telegraph.
Many books have been published about ancient sacred sites, but no one has written about actually living right next to one. This is the extraordinary account of one man’s experiences living with a Celtic ceremonial site from the first millennium BC in his garden. A fogou is an underground passage and inner chamber. Archaeological excavations of the site by Channel 4 TV’s Time Team confirmed Iron Age origins and concluded that the purpose of the fogou was for the spiritual life of the occupants of the fortified settlement, and that ‘there was a lot more to these structures than could be explained by conventional archaeology’.
‘Wonderfully exciting… It is very rare to find such an account of guardianship. ‘ Caitlin Matthews, author.
‘Fogou’ is a remarkable book by an extraordinary man.’
Colin Wilson, author.
‘A quite extraordinary account of living next to a Celtic spiritual site… Some of the contacts with the powerful (and conscious) energy of the place make for startling reading… ‘Fogou’ offers us with its use of fiction and autobiography a wonderfully gratifying peep into the lives of our ancestors, people for whom the whole environment was a source of wonder and magic.’
Kindred Spirit
Fogou is currently out of print, but an updated version is available as an ebook. A limited number of 1st edition print copies are also available from Jo on request via the Contact page of this website.