Solitude: Memories, People, Places

If anyone understands Solitude, it's Terry Waite. After five years spent in solitary confinement during his faught kidnapping in the 80s, Terry Waite has had decades to think about what being solitary means, and how it affects us. He explores why some people avoid being alone at every cost, whilst others can think of nothing more peaceful than being well and truly by themselves, and how those feelings can change with time. This book is all about his encounters with people who live a solitary life in many different ways and guises. Some who live out in the most remote of locations, shunning all manner of modern society; some who find themselves solitude in the anonymous flow of crowds in busy cities; and some whose remarkable circumstance, whether professionally or for their own safety, are forced to live a solitary life. There is more than one way to be alone, and these different voices all show how that works. Solitude is more than being alone, it is a retreat into the self shapes the soul. Through his pilgrimage through solitude, Terry Waite discovers how solitude (not loneliness), far from being something we should fear, but is instead something that can a force for good in we learn to embrace and live it out thoughtfully and bravely. Praise for Solitude: "This is a thoughtful and sensitive book from a man who endured the fear and loneliness of captivity. Now, years later, Terry Waite explores solitude in its many forms." Stella Rimington DBE, former Director General of MI5 "This is a wonderfully perceptive and engaging book. Terry Waite takes the reader deep into other worlds, both geographical and psychological, from which they will emerge enlightened and spiritually enriched." Ranulph Fiennes OBE, explorer, writer and poet

About the Author :
Terry Waite MBE, CBE is a British Quaker, Anglican, humanitarian and author. In the 1980s, he worked as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s special envoy, travelling to the Middle East and negotiating the release of many hostages in Iran, Libya and Lebanon. His first book, Taken on Trust, was written in his head when he was denied pen or paper during his captivity. He is also the author of Out of the Silence: Memories, poems, reflections (SPCK, 2016), in which he recalls the highs and lows of his life, both during his ordeal as a hostage and in the happier years of humanitarian work that have followed.

Review :
This is a thoughtful and sensitive book from a man who endured the fear and loneliness of captivity. Now, years later, Terry Waite explores solitude in its many forms. No one is better qualified to write about solitude than Terry Waite, who spent nearly five years of his life in solitary confinement. His exploration of solitude – he calls it a saunter – takes him from his personal ordeal to the Australian outback, to the home of a former British double agent in Moscow, and beyond. His book will be of great value to those who have suffered from too much company or too little, or are interested in the phenomenon of being alone, which is not at all the same as being lonely. Terry Waite’s saunter through solitude is wide ranging, original, well written and (best of all) companionable. This is a wonderfully perceptive and engaging book. Terry Waite takes the reader deep into other worlds, both geographical and psychological, from which they will emerge enlightened and spiritually enriched.