{"product_id":"9781784746704","title":"How to Begin","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor:  Edmund de Waal \u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDiaries, letters \u0026amp; journals\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 5 November 2026 by Vintage Publishing (Chatto \u0026amp; Windus) in the United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHardback | 240 pages\u003cbr\u003e205 x 141 x 28 | 520g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Enchanting, illuminating and tender' - Nigel Slater‘I believe you can live in a book of poems’A book about finding a creative voice and becoming an artist via a startling rediscovery in Edmund de Waal’s family archives – letters between his grandmother and the charismatic poet Rainer Maria Rilke** With letters translated from the German by prizewinning translator, Karen Leeder **This is a story about how to begin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1921, Elisabeth Ephrussi writes a letter to the great poet Rainer Maria Rilke. She too is a poet, or an aspiring one – a young law student in Vienna just beginning her creative life. To her surprise, Rilke writes back with advice. A five-year correspondence follows, an exchange of lyrical and exhortatory letters alongside books, translations, poems in manuscript. They never meet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFifty years later, Elisabeth’s grandson, Edmund de Waal, wants to be a poet and a potter. He sends her his own poetry, and she responds with guidance and Rilke’s Duino Elegies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow to Begin follows Edmund’s journey as an artist. This is a book about failure, about starting again, about apprenticeship and asking for and then disregarding advice, about working out ways to keep going when you don’t know how.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a moving, intergenerational story about the traces of memory within a family, and a deeply personal reflection on how we learn resilience with the support of others. It is for any reader starting out, seeking the permission to begin.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Bookhouse Broughty Ferry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57673227469175,"sku":"9781784746704","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0357\/3199\/6807\/files\/9781784746704.jpg?v=1793632004","url":"https:\/\/thebookhousebroughtyferry.co.uk\/products\/9781784746704","provider":"The Bookhouse Broughty Ferry","version":"1.0","type":"link"}