This book is wonderful. Alex Monroe is so passionate about the jewellery that he designs and makes that this shows in the descriptive writing of this memoir. This book goes through childhood memories and experiences interspersed with describing techniques and ideas. Alex's childhood was clearly a true life boy scout adventure. this is an emotional read with laughter and sorrow. I may not be able to afford his exquisite jewellery but while reading this I could pretend for a moment that I did.

I’m not quite sure why I chose this book; perhaps it was the cover or I was intrigued by the title, but whatever, I am glad I did. It is good every so often I find, to read something far removed from one’s usual preference. I am perhaps the most unlikely person to review this book because I have no artistic ability whatsoever and draw like a five year old and I really couldn’t care what I look like. As a dog owner I live in muddy trousers and a man’s jumper, welly boots with a threadbare coat. I have no jewellery and no interest in fashion. Despite this I enjoyed every word. The book is the memoir of Alex Monroe, who a quick google taught me is a well-respected jewellery designer and craftsman. He writes beautifully and effortlessly glides from memories of his childhood, beautifully replayed, as if from a novel, to the present in his workshop. This oscillation between the past and present feels quite natural, as though he is recounting his life to a friend and explaining how he got to where he is now. Monroe seems to come from a seriously middle class, slightly eccentric family. His childhood reads as something out of Swallows and Amazons, Secret seven with just a smidgen of Christopher Robin. His childhood was blissfully free. One suspects that containing Monroe would have been ineffective and detrimental to his creativity. From today’s perspective, the parenting seemed a little distant at time, bordering on neglect as when his mother dumped him and his brother in a new area six miles from their destination with a boat and map to find their own way along some quite treacherous water at dusk. As a child he had an innate ability to dismantle and make things, an insatiable appetite to observe and emotionally engage with his environment with a facility to memorise and later to be recalled and use. The book is enhanced by some photographs and sketches illustrating some of his key collections. The history of each collection is described in some detail taking influences from the past and present and melding them into a theme which distlls his thoughts into a piece of jewellry which is far more than its form – quite cathartic one suspects.

A very interesting tale on how the journey from childhood developed the interests needed to become internationally known. Shows the importance of imagination.

I first came accross Alex Munroe a few years ago when my daughter mentioned his jewellery as an idea for her 30th Birthday. Since then I have seen him mentioned in fashion magazines and sometimes visit his website to look at his latest collections. This is what caught my interest when I saw the opportunity to read and review this book. The book was a very good blend of childhood memories and how they link to his design process. I found the various processes that Alex Monroe goes through to produce a collection and the individual items very interesting and enlightening. I also enjoyed of the descriptions of Suffolk where he spent his childhood and the adventures he had along the way. His family appears to have been very chaotic but they seemd to have a lot of fun even if some of it was somewhat dangerous.

Perfectly combining the 'boy's own' adventures of the author's youth with a fascinating insight in to the world of jewellery design and making, this is a thoroughly enjoyable memoir. Even if you're unfamiliar with Monroe's work, his vivid accounts of how a piece grows from a spark of an idea in to a fully-fledged collection will make you appreciate the imagination and creativity which is clearly put in to every piece. Growing up in a rather unconventional household, the book is interspersed with tales of bows and arrows, sailing boats, booby traps and go karts - ideal for fans of Swallows and Amazons! Written in an open and honest style, this wonderful book is as interesting as well it is entertaining.