Notes From The Valley: 2022/23

Hardback, eBook, and Audiobook are also available

Embark on a journey through the messy and magnificent tapestry of real life with Scottish writer and performer Lynn Ferguson. In her debut collection of essays, "Notes from the Valley," Lynn invites you into her world in the San Fernando Valley, where she resides with her husband Mark, two sons, Arthur the dog, 10 chickens, and a buzzing community of 40,000 bees.

• "Lynn is real, raw, and will make you both laugh and cry." Deadline News

No matter where she was in the world, Lynn used to call her mother in Cumbernauld, Scotland every Sunday. And then her mother died. And Lynn carried on with the business of living. She wrote comedy for Late Night TV, polished scripts for Pixar, told stories at the Moth, wrote plays for the BBC, performed solo shows, and provided the voice of the plasticine chicken, Mac in the Chicken Run movie series. Life was continuing as normal until…

“I woke up one Sunday and felt a great sense of longing, like something was missing. I felt - as all-round smarty pants, and big thinker Edgar Watson Howe once said -‘homesick for a life I never had, and never will have.’ It wasn’t a new feeling, but relatively new.”

So, instead of calling her mother every Sunday, Lynn decided to send a note out into the Universe instead. Her notes quickly resonated with readers worldwide, creating an instant success. Notes From The Valley earned itself devoted readers who found that Lynn’s raw and genuine storytelling of her everyday life entwined so easily with their own.

• “Lynn Ferguson’s great talent as a writer and storyteller is her uncanny ability to offer her audience, through an often seemingly simple narrative, a glimpse into a wider, more universal truth about the complicated and confounding business of just getting on with things. Where others might see an ordinary and predictable landscape, Lynn finds hidden wonders and unsung miracles, thus making us all richer for it” Alfred Molina, actor
• “I look forward to Sundays, not because it's normally a day off, or breakfast in bed, or a nice lie-in. No. Because the weekly edition of Notes From The Valley reaches my inbox and regularly makes my day.” Chesney Hawkes, musician

Notes from the Valley is a testament to the universal need for reflection, for in reflecting on where our individual journeys have taken us, we uncover how we really belong.

• “Lynn weaves yarns about her own experience and that of others, in pursuit of the deep realities that shape our lives.” The Scotsman Newspaper
• "Ferguson’s tone and real talent for storytelling has such a power" Entertainment Now

This book captures the essence of a year in the tumultuous reality of life, from one November to the next.

• “Rarely have I laughed, wept, and acknowledged such beautiful observations and empathy contained within such wise words.” Gavin Mitchell, actor.
• “Lynn is that funny, frank, and deeply wise friend who can make you feel better about almost anything, but also never shies away from hard truths. A gifted storyteller, who speaks frankly about her life, she helps us laugh at ourselves while working out how to move through the world with more courage and kindness. And now she's put it all down in a book: what a gift!” Catherine Burns, Artistic Director ‘The Moth’

With love and gratitude for your existence, Lynn shares her Sunday reflections on the human experience, seeking to connect to you, no matter where in the world you are placed.