1
of
1
My Battle of Hastings
Chronicle of a Year by the Sea
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 107 ratings, 16 reviews)
Brief Description
The new memoir in a triptych from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo, in which she moves to Hastings to find a room of her own and immerses herself in local history. 'This is urgent, compelling but also delightful writing' β Lauren Elkin In the depths...
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2600
$2800
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
My Battle of Hastings
$2600
$2800
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
The new memoir in a triptych from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo, in which she moves to Hastings to find a room of her own and immerses herself in local history.
'This is urgent, compelling but also delightful writing' β Lauren Elkin
In the depths of winter, Xiaolu Guo moves into a tiny dilapidated flat on the Hastings seafrontβa room of her own where she can spend time writing, liberated from her domestic responsibilities in London.
She immerses herself in the English landscape and its past, becoming preoccupied by the violence between Normans and Saxons. Filled with profound, beautiful and wry reflections on war, history, migration, and belonging, My Battle of Hastings is a chronicle of Xiaolu's life in Hastings and a portrait of a dislocated artist seeking to connect with her local environment in the hope of finding a deeper connection to her adoptive nation.
'Magnificent, brutal and poetic' β Iain Sinclair
'There is nobody quite like Xiaolu Guo... With My Battle of Hastings, Guo shows us the effort that it takes to truly put down roots in a culture so different from the one she was born into' β The Times
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781529918670
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 20 March 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Vintage
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 14.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 199.0mm
Weight: 174g
Pages: 208
About the Author
Xiaolu Guo was born in China. She published six books before moving to Britain in 2002. Her books include- Village of Stone, shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize; A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, shortlisted for the Orange Prize; and I Am China. Her recent memoir, Once Upon a Time in the East, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award and the Rathbones Folio Prize 2018. It was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. Her most recent novel A Lover's Discourse was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2020. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a visiting professor at the Free University in Berlin.
Also by Xiaolu Guo
View all-
20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
Meet ten of literature's most iconic heroines, jacketed in bold portraits by female photographers from around the world. 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth tells the story of Fenfang, who is determined to carve out a life more independent than her provincial roots. She secures a job as a film extra in Beijing, but living a modern life is not...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Radical
The new memoir from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guoβplayful, provocative, and originalβit's her deeply personal take on striving for a life of her own. The new memoir from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guoβplayful, provocative, and originalβit's her deeply personal take on striving for a life of her own. 'When it comes to spinning light and shadow on the...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Call Me Ishmaelle
Moby-Dick reimagined from the perspective of a cross-dressed female sailor. Brilliantly written... ambitious, brave, strange β Philip Hoare One of the most valuable writers in the world β Deborah Levy 1843. Ishmaelle is born in a small village on the stormy Kent coast where she grows up swimming with dolphins. After her parents and infant sister die, her brother, Joseph,...Paperback$3800Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Call Me Ishmaelle
From prize-winning author Xiaolu Guo comes a dazzling gender-flipped reimagining of Moby Dick. Moby-Dick reimagined from the perspective of a cross-dressed female sailor. Brilliantly written... ambitious, brave, strange - Philip Hoare One of the most valuable writers in the world - Deborah Levy 1843. Ishmaelle is born in a small village on the stormy Kent coast where she grows up...Paperback$2800Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
A Lover's Discourse
A funny and charming new novel from Xiaolu Guo about love, language, displacement and finding our place in the world. A Lover's Discourse is described as 'a fragmentary meditation on the nature of love' by the Guardian. A Chinese woman comes to post-Brexit London to start over, just as the Brexit campaign reaches a fever pitch. Isolated and lonely in...PaperbackSold Out -
My Battle of Hastings
The new memoir in a triptych from prize-winning writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo, in which she moves to Hastings to find a room of her own and immerses herself in local history. 'One of the most valuable writers in the world' - Deborah Levy My Battle of Hastings is an exploration of how an immigrant, an outsider, and a woman...HardbackSold Out -
Once Upon A Time in the East
A memoir of growing up in modern China from the Orange-shortlisted and Granta Best Young British Novelist. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award Shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2018 A Sunday Times Book of the Year Xiaolu Guo meets her parents for the first time when...PaperbackSold Out -
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
VINTAGE VOYAGES: A world of journeys, from the tallest mountains to the depths of the mind. A charming and clever account of one woman's exploration of love, language, and identity. Twenty-three-year-old Zhuang (or Z as she calls herself) arrives in London to spend a year learning English. Struggling to find her way in the city, and through the puzzles of...PaperbackSold Out -
Everyday Tang
After decades living in England, writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo travelled to her native China with her daughter. Her objective was twofold: to show her eleven-year-old where she came from, and to discover what remained of an enigmatic period that had long fascinated her: the magnificent and cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty (618-907). As they wander through the great cities of Xi'an...PaperbackSold Out
More from Biography & Memoir
View all-
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseFamesick
Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgunΒ wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through herΒ journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseDogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Stakes
Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the authorβs bestselling memoirΒ Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampireβs badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram StokerβsΒ Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseBuilt for This
Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Even the Good Girls Will Cry
Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseAn Ocean and a Day
An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love. An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseA Place to Stand
A Place to Stand by Clare Ward is a profound memoir that delves into the life of a country doctor living and working in the Hokianga Harbour area in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand. This region is sparsely populated and poses numerous health challenges. This thoughtful account details Clareβs thirty-year career, highlighting the people she works with and...Hardback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Rule of Lies
Written with all the pace and energy of a John Grisham novel β¦ An incredible true story and a great read! BILL BROWDER, author of Red Notice and Freezing Order An American lawyerβs brilliant, propulsive story of witnessing and playing a part in the transformation of Russia under Yeltsin and Putin. A true tale of fascinating personalities, criminal intrigue, harrowing...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips late August -
New ReleaseRory
TheΒ New York TimesΒ bestseller The #1Β Irish TimesΒ bestseller The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era. Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. He can overwhelm a golf...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4199Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseTe Kaikaukau | The Swimmer
Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera β author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider β decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full-time at Te WΔnanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo MΔori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year...Paperback$3500Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
16% offNew ReleaseThis Is Me: A Reckoning
This is a searingly honest and moving memoir from double Golden Globe-nominatedactress Hayden Panettiere. Hayden Panettiere has been in front of the camera since before she could talk. She roseto stardom typecasted as Hollywood's blonde girl next door. As a young celebrity,naysayers were certain she would crash and burn. Not one to disappoint, she did.Hayden Panettiere's irreverent memoir satisfies our...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
