I Am Here: On Staying Alive

Raw, moving and beautiful... a story of struggle and redemption in the wildest outcrops of the mind and world... I loved it -- RACHEL CLARKE, Women's Prize-winning author of The Story of a Heart Armstrong’s visceral descriptions of scaling peaks and unravelling minds establish her as a writer to watch out for. Hers is a voice that refuses to look away, even when the terrain turns treacherous. I was gripped -- LEMN SISSAY, author of My Name is Why An extraordinary book -- LOUISA YOUNG, author of The Golden Hours and You Left Early Kate Armstrong isn't just a good writer: she's the survivor of all survivors, and she sets us at the heart of the struggle between the psyche and its attempts to hide from itself. Utterly involving, moving and brilliant -- M. JOHN HARRISON, Booker-shortlisted author of The End of Everything I thought I knew what it meant for climbing literature to embody 'courage'. Then I read this bold, brilliant book and expanded my definition: I Am Here is rare and remarkable -- HELEN MORT, author of A Line Above the Sky Gripping... Searingly honest, brutally real... Lessons for all of us are woven into Armstrong's beautiful prose -- MANNI COE, author of Sunday Times bestseller brother.do.you.love.me An extraordinary story... propulsive and intoxicating... I could not put it down -- LILY DUNN, author of Sins of My Father A landmark memoir with the power to stun, horrify and inspire -- often within a single sentence. Brilliantly written and intricately constructed, it is a testament to deepening self-knowledge and the brute will to survive. An amazing, unique book -- TOBY LITT, author of Patience Elegant, moving and filled with devastating moments of grace, I Am Here announces Armstrong as a genuinely fresh and important voice in mountain writing -- ADAM BUTTERWORTH, Alpine Journal Kate Armstrong's prose is lucid and mesmerising, and her story completely devastating. And yet, I felt strangely emboldened after reading I Am Here. Days later, it is still on my mind -- EMILY CHAPPELL, author of Where There's A Will