An Exceptional Woman: The Writings of Heather Tanner

Heather Tanner (1903-1993) is best known as the author of four exquisite books about Wiltshire and its countryside, products of the lifelong collaboration with her husband, the etcher and artist Robin Tanner. Few partnerships were so close, rooted not only in a shared philosophy - touching art, education, friendship and religion - but also in an unquenchable enthusiasm for the natural and manmade world around their home at Kington Langley, near Chippenham. Throughout her life she wrote poems, letters, essays and dialogues, which reveal the depth of her understanding of rural life, her benign humour and her mastery of language. This selection, made and introduced by her friend Rosemary Devonald, draws on largely unpublished material which she collected after Heather's death, and which now forms part of the Tanner Archive in the Craft Study Centre at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, Farnham. To her many friends, and those to whom her published work is known and appreciated, this collection will be an irresistible memento. To those unfamiliar with the name of Heather Tanner her writing will come as a delightful discovery - the work and life of an exceptional woman.