Lighting a Candle

Many readers will be familiar with the work of Kathleen Raine and Temenos, whose Review I review every year. This book consists of a series of over 40 tributes to her, along with her own inaugural address at the Temenos Academy in 1991. Pride of place goes to the eulogy by the Prince of Wales at the service of Thanksgiving for her life, when he identifies with her own ambition to reverse the premises of materialism in our culture, which she referred to as the Great Battle. Among the best-known names in this collection are Wendell Berry, Thetis Blacker (who writes about her prowess at cooking and even provides some of her recipes), Keith Critchlow, Satish Kumar, John Lane, the Bishop of London and Sir Stephen Lamport. As private secretary to the Prince of Wales it was one of his jobs to arrange a fortnightly delivery of organic vegetables from Highgrove. The contribution from Sir John Tavener is a musical score for which a magnifying glass is required in order to decipher even the dedication. This is a book which anyone who knew Kathleen will treasure and want to read.