A MEMOIR OF BREAKDOWN, RECOVERY, GROWTH AND LESSONS FROM THE EARTH Please expect and prepare to be getting your hands dirty as we connect to the soil and listen to Kathy's inspiring story. When Kathy was forced to quit her high-flying career in London, she was a wreck burnt out, anxious, consumed by depression. But she found solace in an unlikely place the veg patch. She put her hands in the soil and found a way to grow, to sow some small seeds of hope. In ROUGH PATCH, Kathy draws us into the world of the kitchen garden to reflect on the lessons she learnt from the soil, along with sharing recipes inspired by the land. Weaving together her own story of recovery with the year she spent growing and cooking her harvests, Kathy realises that the two are tightly bound together and that reconnecting with the earth could restore her hope and renew her life. Along the way there are tales of marauding pigs, transformative insights from planting leeks, recipes for an unchecked courgette glut and the discovery of why a radish seed is worth staying alive for. The result is a candid, hopeful and sometimes funny story about the healing powers of nature; a quiet manifesto for a more connected life... 'Kathy Slacks story is transformative. Life-affirming, inspiring and most of all, full of hope, it proves beyond all doubt the miracle cure that is mud beneath your fingernails. KATE HUMBLE An intimate, brave and brilliantly written account of a life restored by the seasons and the soil. MARK DIACONO