Alice Vincent, Amy Key, Megan Hunter and Rose Ruane explore the rediscovery of ‘Gaining Ground’ half a century after its initial release
Abra has a perfect-seeming life as a wife and mother: until one day, she walks away, leaving only a note asking her family not to look for her. In a woodland cabin, her new life alone begins. There are no mirrors, no clocks, no memories: just the squirrels breathing in the forest, and silence of vegetables growing. Years later, a young woman arrives, and the past-flashes begin. Daughter? A strange word. Is this her? And what will this mean?
Joan Barfoot’s Gaining Ground is a both a provocative meditation on living on your own terms and an exquisite work of art. It calls to anybody who has ever wanted to escape – who has asked what it costs to be wild, to be sane, to be free.
Amy Key is a writer based in London. She is the author of two collections of poetry, Luxe (Salt) and Isn’t Forever (Bloodaxe). Arrangements in Blue (Jonathan Cape), her first work of non-fiction, was published in 2023. Her essays have appeared in The Observer, Vittles, Granta, Vogue, Stylist and elsewhere.
Alice Vincent is a writer. Her books include Hark: How Women Listen; Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival and Rootbound: Rewilding a Life. A columnist for The Guardian, Alice writes for Vogue, The Financial Times and The Times. She is the host of the Why Women Grow and In Haste podcasts and creator of her weekly newsletter community, savour.
Megan Hunter is a prizewinning novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. Her first novel, The End We Start From was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the Books Are My Bag Awards, longlisted for the Aspen Words Prize and won the Forward Reviews Editor’s Choice Award. It was adapted into a major motion picture by Alice Birch, starring Jodie Comer and directed by Mahalia Belo. Her second novel, The Harpy, was Indie Book of the Month. Her dramatic monologue Salt of the Earth premiered at Venice Film Festival. Megan’s other writing has appeared in the White Review, the TLS, Literary Hub, Vogue, Elle, BOMB, and elsewhere. Her latest novel is Days of Light.
Rose Ruane is an artist and writer. Her novels This Is Yesterday and Birding are published by Corsair Books and Birding was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for fiction in 2025.
Joan Barfoot (born 1946) is the author of eleven novels. Her books, which reviewers have celebrated as ‘harrowing and hilarious’ and ‘gloriously subversive’, have been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. A recipient of the Marian Engel Award, she has also been a journalist during much of her career. She lives in London, Ontario, Canada.
Amy, Alice, Megan and Rose will discuss the re-release of Gaining Ground, featuring a brief digital appearance from the author Joan.
The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Your ticket includes a complimentary glass of wine.
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