{"product_id":"history-of-the-child-penelope-shuttle-9781780377858","title":"History of the Child","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePenelope Shuttle's \u003ci\u003eHistory of the Child\u003c\/i\u003e is a highly evocative exploration of childhood, memory, and imagination, blending personal and historical perspectives. \u003c\/b\u003eThe book's themes include parenting, grief, nature, emotional recovery and connections to the past, guided by the idea of childhood as a transformative and rebellious space. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first of the book's four sections features poems about Katherine of Aragon, the Vestal Virgins, Stanley Spencer and Wallace Stevens, with a focus on grief, nature, and animals. ​The second, \u003ci\u003eBook of Lullabies\u003c\/i\u003e, steps closer to the theme of the child, with poems about memory, inwardness, climate change, sexuality in older age, and the natural world. The third part, \u003ci\u003eHistory of the Child\u003c\/i\u003e, is a journey back to Penelope Shuttle's own childhood, blending personal memories with imagined perspectives to explore psychological crises, emotional recovery, and the traumas of childhood. ​ It introduces an 'alternative girl child self', inspired by Persian legends, by her late husband Peter Redgrove's dream of such a girl ('my death, and she is my soul'), and by a friend's fanciful wish. The culminating fourth section is a playful sequence about a little table, inspired by her mother and her childhood. ​ The table symbolises connection to her mother, who lived to be 100 years old, and their shared history. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHistory of the Child\u003c\/i\u003e is guided by themes of memory, imagination, foreboding, magic, history and humour, and seeks to articulate the essence of 'being' through fiery language and elemental imagery. ​ She draws inspiration from Donald Winnicott's concept of the 'potentive space' where play, fantasy and reality intersect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Penelope Shuttle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1780377851\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781780377858\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloodaxe Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/14\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 128\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Penelope Shuttle","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47520779370751,"sku":"9781780377858","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_b7fb6c45-e5db-4c66-acdc-28695662299b.jpg?v=1762887022","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/history-of-the-child-penelope-shuttle-9781780377858","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}