Having read Sara's novel Seven Steeples earlier this year, I couldn't wait to read her non-fiction. Her thoughtfulness, playfulness of form, and honesty are so well-crafted that the reader flows through the book with a sense of absolute cohesion. Fully-formed, and crafted from thoughtful hands, Sara's writing is as nuanced and reflective as her sculptural birds.

A beautiful little gem of a book, Sara Baume (in my opinion) is Ireland's most honest and original writer today, after only three books she has already written an exquisite and eclectic body of work, from her first novel, Spill, Simmer, Falter, Wither, through A Line Made By Walking, to her latest book, handiwork, Sara gives so much of herself and in handiwork she invites us into her world and her imaginings, her musings and her daily working life, which is brave, thoughtful and very charming. How do you categorise handiwork? It is not a novel, but is completely novel. It is not a poem but it is wonderfully poetical, "Touch by touch by touch, hestitation by hesitation by hesitation, because this and this and this is how acutely I care." Biographical, but not a biography- a self portrait then, ink on paper. Like other bright young writers, Max Porter (Grief is a Thing with Feathers, Lanny) and Robert Macfarlane (Ness, Lost Words), Megan Hunter (The End We Start From) they are pushing at the bounds of not only what a book can be but how and why to categorise them. I would create a new section, 'Unique'. Words are used sparingly, sometimes only a few on a page, but they are carefully crafted and should be savoured in little bites, like a rich delicacy. Sara Baume reminds me a little of Sylvia Plath, not for mental health reasons, but because they both put so much of themselves, obliquely and unashamedly, into their work; are their own muse. She has a magpie's curiosity for observing nature and then bringing it into sharp focus in all her books, "As she flies, her body clock adjusts in line with the earth's axis. Without experience, without guidance, without visibility- the tiny willow warbler always knows what time it is." A uniquely original book, by a uniquely original writer.