Twelve Moons: The most beautiful and inspiring memoir you’ll read

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Twelve Moons is a gorgeous book, an elegy to the power of looking up and of taking solace in nature. The cycle of the same routines we all go through, even when big things change, we still carry on doing the same daily things with the same people.

No woman should be so defined by her relationship with a man that four years later, she still can't bear to think of him. The main elements that stood out to me were Giles' expert capturing of the wild magic of Northumberland, the cosy domesticity of her everyday life, and the deep love she has for her daughters.Over the course of the year, the moon becomes her fellow traveller through dark times, and companion through joyful ones - and even when the sky is wreathed in cloud, the moon is still felt in the pull of the tides. Each child has their own quirks and individuality, but there are also complications with physical and mental health. Each word is chosen with care to vividly portray the landscapes, and to express the varying emotions experienced by the author. Very often home schooling can be one the very few options available to parents finding themselves in this situation and as Giles highlights for all its potential joys, it can be all consuming and immersive.

The presentation of the book is absolutely stunning, both the cover artwork and title are beautiful.The trauma of navigating a separation as well as school systems unable to meet her children’s needs felt overwhelming and her honesty with regards to how this impacted her sense of self was something that was identifiable, ‘How can my story be excavated from the mine of my life when so much is devoted to others? I really felt the love and dedication the person shares for their children and family unit which was really lovely, but I really wanted some kind of resolution for the author or a more clear personal growth story but it just never arrived. Twelve Moons is one of those stories a book about finding yourself, your voice and a sense that even in the dark of the night, we are never truly alone. Navigating single parenthood, advocating from her girls and herself - an endless battle to be heard - is isolating and exhausting.

A dazzlingly honest memoir that while never turning away from the awkward truths of life, also shows how love will flourish if we can only find a space for ourselves. It was funny to read the description of jesmond - I could tell exactly where she was, it's really fun when a book includes a place you know. Giles examines and processes how the course of her life’s events have led to her current situation: ‘how I have ended up on my own in the Northern most corner of England with four little girls, when I spent my childhood dreaming of bright lights and centre stage? It is to nature that the family turn to time and time again to give them strength during troubled times, never more so than when they turn to the moon in its ever-changing guises, yet setting the rhythm to the year and ever constant in their shifting lives. In it, she records the daily simple acts of mothering her four girls, The Mermaid, The Whirlwind, The Caulbearer and The Littlest One, fierce and wild, against a backdrop of lockdowns and loneliness.Over the course of the year, the moon becomes her fellow traveller through dark times, and companion through joyful ones – and even when the sky is wreathed in cloud, the moon is still felt in the pull of the tides.

Beautifully describes the shame, vulnerability and then strength that comes from becoming a single parent. Their tribe is a force that is at once fragile, but also characterised by strength and togetherness. Five stars are not enough for this amazingly powerful book: how mental health of children, the author's own health following recent divorce unravels their lives inn the time of covid. An exquisitely and bravely written memoir following the lives of a single mother and her four beautiful daughters, during a year of the pandemic. This is a debut memoir that will particularly resonate with anyone who has had their life smashed apart and needed to dig deep, just to keep going.

By the time I finished the book, I felt that the little terrace on the lane was a safe place that I, too, could escape to and avoid the world in for a little while.