In The Blood written by Andrew Motion performed by Andrew Motion on CD (Abridged)

'For most people childhood ends slowly, so nobody can see where one part of life finishes and the next bit starts. But my childhood has ended suddenly. In a day.''

In The Blood is Andrew Motion's beautifully delivered memoir of growing-up in post-war England - an unforgettable evocation of family life, school life, and country life. It also tells the story of how these worlds were shattered, when Motion's mother suffered a terrible riding accident.

The tragedy shadows the book, feeding its mood of elegy as well as its celebratory vigilance. Told from a teenage child's point of view, without the benefit of hindsight, Motion captures the pathos and puzzlement of childhood with great clarity of expression and freshness of memory. We encounter a strange but beguiling extended family, a profound love of the natural world, and a growing passion for books and writing.