A beautiful memoir, travelogue and meditation on stone by artist and stone mason Beatrice Searle.

'Extraordinary' Guardian
‘A magnificent book’ Alex Woodcock
‘Exceptional’ Kerri Andrews
‘Luminous’ Spectator

At the age of twenty-six, artist and Cathedral stonemason Beatrice Searle crossed the North Sea and walked 500 miles along a medieval pilgrim path through Southern Norway, taking with her a 40-kilogram Orcadian stone.

Fascinated with the mysterious footprint stones of Northern Europe and the ancient Greco-Roman world, stones closely associated with travellers, saints and the inauguration of Kings, she follows in their footsteps as her stone becomes a talisman, a bedrock and an offering to those she meets along the way.

Stone Will Answer is an unusual adventure story of journeys practical, spiritual and geological, of weight and motion, and an insight into a beguiling craft.

"Extraordinary... Confessional, elemental and at times moving, this is a memorable and unique celebration of the power and beauty of stone." - Guardian

"Searle is an excellent storyteller... [and Stone Will Answer] make[s] for gripping reading... it's the human spirit that emerges triumphant in this sparky blend of memoir and travelogue... Above all, this is the story of a young woman's astonishing feat of endurance" - Herald

"A gifted writer, capable of luminous description" - Spectator

"Subtle and thought-provoking" - TLS

"A story of determination and soul-searching... Compellingly narrated, entertaining and thought-provoking... treat yourself to a copy of this book and enjoy the journey" - Natural Stone Specialist

"A moving testimony to the power of art, of finding the extraordinary in the everyday and acting upon your instinct. To walk with Searle in its pages is to experience stone within a new light... as a part-knowable, ever-shifting medium in the process of slow but perpetual change, one long work-in-progress." - Caught by the River