When Martha accepts a place at university, her decision is met with a mixture of hostility and pride by her uncomprehending family. This is the story of a young woman's journey to maturity and independence, struggling to cope with the intellectual and emotional challenges that surround her, at a time when such space was rarely given freely to women.In The Quarry Wood, Nan Shepherd's subtle prose is matched by intense and memorable descriptions of the natural world, and a dry sense of humour. Ninety years after its first publication, it remains as fresh and original today.

Introduced by Roderick Watson.
When Martha gains a place at the university, her achievement is met with a mixture of hostility and pride by her uncomprehending family. It is there that she meets Luke (married to her friend Dussie) who is to haunt the years that lie ahead as she struggles to cope with the intellectual and emotional challenges that surround her at work and at home.

This is essentially the story of a young woman's journey to maturity and independence, her high ideals, and a slowly-growing awareness of her passionate nature. Nan Shepherd's subtle prose and her understanding of the hidden currents which move people are matched by her intense and memorable descriptions of the natural world, and a dry sense of humour. The book has lost none of its freshness and originality since it met with high praise on publication over seventy years ago - four years before Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song.