'Infused with wisdom and a deep love of nature... a how-to book for finding peace of mind' SagaThis is a story about the rain, a boy, an angry dog and a gardener, and how some of them find peace and freedom... In Spring Rain, writer and gardener Marc Hamer shares his path from difficult beginnings to contentment, by way of family gardens. As a young boy in a violent home, Marc found refuge in his small back garden. Here he kindled a lifelong love of nature and learning by observing the plants and insects in his private kingdom and reading the old encyclopaedias he found in the shed. Marc has always found the answers to life's questions in the natural world, whether as a child watching ants, as a young man living rough in the countryside, or as a professional gardener creating places of calm and restoration for others. Now in his sixties, he is finally creating a garden for himself, at his home in Cardiff. In this beautiful and moving memoir, he considers what he has learned, from the spring of youth to his autumn years, and reflects on how we reconcile our childhoods with where we end up. With line drawings by the author, Spring Rain encourages us back in tune with the natural world and offers both consolation and a guide to a happier life. PRAISE FOR MARC HAMER:'Wisdom...patterned with Hamer's gifts for observation, compression, and tone' New Yorker'A sublime meditation on life, love, nature and family, woven with the wisdom of age gained through a life well lived' Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell'Wholly original... on how to live, how to be calm and content with only a little, in a quietly humming garden' Daily Mail