The Living Stones

With an introduction by Stewart Lee.'How I envy you if you are about to read either, or both, of Ithell Colquhoun's gnostic travelogues for the first time, for soon you, too, will be post-Colquhoun, and everything will seem ever so slightly altered.' –Stewart LeeIn

The Living Stones Ithell Colquhoun, a leading surrealist painter and writer in post-war Britain, drifts through Cornwall, England, in search of an artist's studio and sanctuary from the modern world. She quickly becomes the readers gnostic guide, looking beyond the twee of County Fairs, observing druidic rituals and seeking out the crumbling wells and megaliths. Charming with her style and teasing glimpses into her soul, Colquhoun connects us with the eerie, numinous beauty of the Cornish countryside, quietly insisting that we see the Cornwall she sees: an ancient land and language built over layers of myth and legend. It elevates her writing above everyday travelogue.