Brilliant, must read again another time-pure escapism!

This is a fascinating book which is brilliantly written. Lara Maiklem is a master storyteller, bringing the past to life through the objects she finds. I also enjoyed following the accompanying Instagram account as I read each chapter, which gives photos of the objects and settings that she describes. After taking my time and savouring this wonderful book, I feel bereft now that I've finished it. Pure fascinating escapism - I loved it!

Lara Maiklem's "Mudlarking" is a portal into another world- a lost and forgotten world, where she summons forth the ghosts of the past through the everyday items, the ephemera they left behind- the broken bottles, jars, the buckles, buttons and coins and other oddities that bring back to life a time and place and people who lived alongside the Thames river when it was a busy and bustling port and we glimpse its history, not through the windows of its stately houses, but at water level amidst its detritus. This is a tactile and sensory narrative where you can feel the sucking mud beneath your feet, the rusty salt on your tongue and smell the pungent rot and decay of centuries. Lara writes, "my favourite kind of treasure are pins" and through such a simple and everyday object she reveals a fascinating picture of domestic life and the origin of the expression 'pin money'. Also, "Some of my most intimate and evocative foreshore finds are clay pipes". These plain but well made pipes are found along the Thames, when everyone from adults to children carried one and they tell their own improtant part of a history that links us to the slave trade. "I know there are stories hidden in the mud... All I had to do was look for them". Lara plucks these stories from the mud and holds them up to the light to reveal a patina of intimacy and familiarity that draws us back into this lost world. There have been several unique memoirs this year whose narrative takes an unusual perspective, along with "Mudlarking", I would recommend you read "How To Catch a Mole" and "On Chapel Sands". These books often get overlooked on the shelf, but I have loved them all and have been left thinking about them long after I have put them down.

Review of whole book: Began 8th July 2019. Finished 5th August 2019. What a joy; a pure delight. This is a book of surprising value and lasting worth. So wonderfully crafted and written, it covers the range of this peculiar pastime along the Thames from West to East. That is from Tidal Head to Estuary. You immediately feel comfortable with this author in her hobby, obsession and delight for Mudlarking. With wit and an open writing style, she opens up her world in a way that you can feel her passion, share her enthusiasm and marvel in her imaginations. Here without prompting yawns or repetition Lara speaks of each area of the river bank she visits. Her finds and the history of that location are detailed and shared. She is an honest commentator, a well researched historical narrator and a person who shares fully of herself. It is a real pleasure to read. In all these endeavours and historical asides she reveals more of herself and her journey into collecting things the river offers. I found myself feeling that although Mudlarking would perhaps not be for me, I recognised its charms and if I was to don a pair of wellies it would be to spend sometime watching Lara at work and sharing at firsthand the all consuming love she has for this activity. What makes this book so special is Lara’s writing and insights. She has that wonderful ability to let her mind wander, way beyond the present, and we follow in her imagination the provenance of her finds. Making up scenarios for how the objects came to be in the river; they have been preserved by the mud and spotted on the foreshore. I feel my knowledge of the history of London has been deepened and enlarged by her comments on these objects, the riverside locations and ultimately the Thames itself. I have always enjoyed spending time on the river and those journeys have enhanced my experience in visits to the capital. Now in this one book about a historical pastime I have received a fresh insight. This is one of the best non-fiction books I have read in a long time. I am amazed it is Lara’s first move to becoming a published author. I’m sure it was a hard slog and kept her from those hours of solitude and peace beside her beloved river. Her efforts are well received and she can be so proud of her disciplined writing and research. Her approach sustained my interest throughout the journey along the river and I would recommend this book without reservation to all. Previously: [please read my earlier review below. I stand by every word now that I have read the whole book]. Sampler: I have only had the opportunity to read a taster - Chapter 7 - I believe London Bridge. It is a glimpse into an activity I have never really given much thought to before. I have never been into metal-detecting but since childhood who has not enjoyed beachcombing, rockpooling and pond dipping? Mudlarking is an adult version of this sense of treasure hunting ironically named after a mud lark - ‘A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries.’ This is a wonderful idea since modern day scavenging isn’t for coal, food or items just washed into the river but a history lesson and more akin to river archaeology. This book has something of an advantage in that it is written by someone passionate about the practice of mudlarking and curious enough to dig deeper than the mud of the river Thames. By that I mean Lara Maiklem brings both the search and the objects alive through her descriptive language and interest in history. Add to that an active imagination she takes the reader back to Roman times, Frost Fairs on the frozen river or the flames of The Great Fire of London. Lara speaks also of moment of the find. The care and preservation of artefacts. The best light and intensity of the search and how without that moments scan, hesitation, acquired skills objects might forever remain undiscovered or be shattered by one’s next step. I still have little interest in metal-detecting but the sense of being so close to the soul of the river, teasing out its bounty by effort and a good eye and reconnecting the present with the past has a value beyond the items themselves. A good cook book sends you to the supermarket and the kitchen. A rambling tale gets you lacing your boots and out in the countryside. Lara’s delightful book will do the same. Rekindle our childhood memories, reconnect us with a sense of place and time. See value in everyday things and detest the polluting waste of plastic. Over and above everything, this chapter has given me a desire to read this book and appreciate the history of London by the items lost, captured in silt and revealed at low tide. Lara’s enthusiasm has enable my creaking knees and stiff back to get down on all fours and take a worm eyed view of London’s rich mud, sand and shingle. I was with the author as she delved, deduced and discovered her priceless treasures. Reading is often about escape, entertainment and enlightenment Mudlarking brought me all three.

One of my favourite books and given as presents to several friends especially a visiting Australian from Perth!