Elixir : In the Valley at the End of Time

Author: Kassabova, Kapka

Prose: non-fiction

Published on 2 February 2023 by Vintage Publishing (Jonathan Cape Ltd) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 400 pages
163 x 242 x 39 | 620g

Set in the valley of the Mesta, one of the oldest inhabited river valleys in Europe and a nexus for wild plant gatherers, Elixir is an unforgettable exploration of the deep connections between people, plants and place'Uplifting and beautifully written' SPECTATOR'Dark and mysterious and beautiful' FINANCIAL TIMES'Exceptional' BBC WILDLIFEOver several seasons, Kassabova spends time with the people of this magical region. She meets women and men who work in a long lineage of foragers, healers and mystics. She learns about wild plants and the ancient practice of herbalism, and experiences a symbiotic system where nature and culture have blended for thousands of years. Through her captivating encounters we come to feel the devastating weight of the ecological and cultural disinheritance that the people of this valley have suffered. Yet, in her search for elixir, she also finds reasons for hope. The people of the valley are keepers of a rare knowledge, not only of mountain plants and their properties, but also of how to transform collective suffering into healing.

Immersive and enthralling, at its heart Elixir is a search for a cure to what ails us in the Anthropocene. It is an urgent call to rethink how we live - in relation to one another, to the Earth and to the cosmos.