Deer Island

‘His story is remarkable in the frankness of the telling and the moving complexity of the teller’ The Times

‘Written with real feeling and a dose of dark wisdom.’ TLS

At the beginning of the 1980s Neil Ansell lived in a series of squats and derelict buildings across London. Becoming part of a floating community of rough sleepers and volunteers, who found purpose in providing companionship and support for one another. But Britain was changing – this was the decade of the individual and soon we would be told that ‘there was no such thing as society.’ Out of his experiences Ansell has woven a beautifully told tale, interleaving the streets of the capital with journeys through the wilds of Jura (a Norse word for deer island), building a powerful and moving meditation on belonging. This is the first paperback edition of the highly praised memoir.