A Line Above the Sky

by Helen Mort

Climbing gives you the illusion of being in control, just for a while, the tantalising sense of being able to stay one move ahead of death.

Helen Mort has always been drawn to the thrill and risk of the tension between human and rockface, and the climber's powerful connection to the elemental world. But when she becomes a mother for the first time, she finds herself re-examining her relationship with both the natural world and herself, as well as the way the world views women who aren't afraid to take risks.

A Line Above the Sky melds memoir and nature writing to ask why humans are drawn to danger, and how we can find freedom in pushing our limits. It is a visceral love letter to losing oneself in physicality, whether climbing a mountain or bringing a child into the world, and an unforgettable celebration of womanhood in all its forms.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Nature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Helen Mort is a poet and author from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Her collection Division Street was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize and won the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize in 2014. She was described by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy as "among the brightest stars in the sparkling new constellation of young British poets". She is a Cultural Fellow at the University of Leeds, and one of the judges for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.
Adapted from: http://www.poetaflamenco.com/

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up

I went into this already as a fan of Helen Mort - I think she's a really exciting contemporary British writer to watch, having loved Division Street and enjoyed Black Car Burning as well. But I finished A Line Above the Sky: On Mountains and Motherhood knowing I'll definitely read everything she writes! (Note to self, get your hands on a copy of No Map Could Show Them ASAP...)

It's also quite fortuitous that I decided to pick her latest offering up when I did: I've recently got really into reading about walking/climbing, particularly mountain climbing (got Jon Krakauer to thank for that!), so it was a pleasant surprise that this book included many references to both, as well as the Sheffield/Peak District setting -- I have fond memories of my time at uni in the city and various subsequent trips to the Peaks. All of this to say I would have been surprised if I didn't enjoy her latest offering, but I ended up absolutely loving it, and finding it hard to put down.

The book focuses on Mort's love of climbing and the innate draw she feels to climbing. The author herself describes the book as being about "risk, love, motherhood, judgement, adventure and fear". She reflects on this passion in the context of recently giving birth to her first child, and in recounting the life of another female climber who was also a mother, Alison Hargreaves. Alison was a renowned mountain climber, climbing all of the great north faces of the Alps in a single season, before going on to attempt to climb the three highest mountains in the world before dying during her descent of K2 in 1995. Her son, Tom Ballard, also went on to be a climber (and, like his mother, tragically died young whilst climbing Nanga Parbat in 2019), and the book title is taken from the name of one of the climbing routes he created.

I found it fascinating to read of Mort's passion for climbing, and her experience of dealing with this often dangerous hobby after the birth of her son - and sharing her love of it with him, like Hargreaves (she even climbed the Eiger when pregnant with Tom). Even if you don't have a particular interest in climbing this is still a great read, it just happened to tick a lot of boxes for me for what I like in books! Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and Ebury Publishing / Penguin Random House for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Fern A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read about Helen Mort’s relationship with the world of climbing and how this changed as she became a mother and the experience of both impacted the other. She draws comparisons between her own life and that of the famous climber Alison Hargreaves throughout.

This is a book largely on things I knew nothing about; I have never climbed and never will nor am I a mother. Despite this I found the author really relatable to. I loved her writing style and descriptions that transported me from words on a page to visual scenes in my imagination. Most of all though what stood out to me was Mort’s enthusiasm. I think there must be something in people who become climbers that gives them such a drive, focus and passion for scaling grand heights. Maybe everyone has such an extreme passion within them for a different thing only it is lived out far more in life and death situations when you’re scrambling up and down dangerous mountains! It was impossible to not find this pure joy contagious and I read this straight through in two sittings.

A fantastic book for anyone wanting to learn about something knew or looking for a new passion or interest- this might just spark one!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Graham Connors · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up for two reasons: 1) it was short, a little inbetweeny read, and 2) it was about mountain climbing, a subject I'm fascinated by. I didn't expect to be hit with such an emotional book about love and loss, about motherhood and trying to find yourself.

It's part memoir and part biography, the biography element being that of the climber Alison Hargreaves (whom I had not heard of before this book). That split in the narrative gives the reader an insight into how Mort herself dealt with motherhood and how she balanced breastfeeding and climbing against how Hargreaves, an accomplished Alpine climber, struggled with the same problem, devotion to your child and devotion to your passion - climbing. Her connection to Hargreaves (as more than just a climber and a woman) is very obvious but also very well stated, this isn't fangirling or anything of the sort. Her respect is shown by the fact the title of this book was taken from a climbing route that Hargreaves's son, Tom, created as he began to follow in her footsteps.

This is a beautiful novel, well written and heartfelt. Would I recommend it? Absolutely!

[Kate Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book from the front cover to the end. It's also a very complex book, exploring a range of difficult and disturbing ideas, but Helen writes so well and so movingly that it's a joy to read. She is very honest about her journey from childhood to womanhood, and brings home the pressures of gender on all of us, the inequalities and injustices young women live with on a regular basis, from bullying to patronisation, objectification to abuse.
The memoir comes out of her experience of motherhood, the fact that she has struggled with her sense of what it is to be a woman, her body image, not having many female friends, anxiety, and the way this changed once she has a son. Helen writes about the affinity she has always felt with Alison Hargreaves, who died on K2, and whose son, Tom died climbing the same mountain range. Inevitably this leads to thoughts and fears once she starts to think about climbing again and taking Alfie climbing.
Even though I'm not into climbing, I am from Derbyshire, and I loved the descriptions of places in the Peak I know very well. Like any great poet, Helen uses imagery to make me see them with fresh eyes. I remember Alison Hargreaves and her story and the judgement of her, very different to that of a male climber. The memoir is structured with alternating chapters in the second person out on a climb, whose voice this is and who they are talking to, I think changes chapter by chapter, but they are definitely female voices and build cleverly and powerfully to Helen's overall message of our interconnected stories, our sisterhood.

[Sarah Kimberley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A memoir by Helen Mort which is both incredible and unyielding. I’m so happy I flung it in my rucksack and brought it to the mountains with me 🌲
There’s an innate sense of magic and fulfilment to the sharp landscapes Helen describes throughout each passage. With references to places that are very special to me: Sheffield and the Lake District. She even mentioned Great Langdale was such a beautiful coincidence whilst huddled up in a cosy tent ⛰
There’s a bold, tenacious grip in Helen’s voice that keeps you hungering for each chapter, and I love that she’s unafraid to bear her soul on the pages. A woman existing in the male sphere of natural sports and trying to carve her mark on the climbing scene whilst juggling the path of motherhood. I think there’s such fire and strength in owning your desires and fighting to be seen in such a vast landscape. It felt like a conversation with an old friend down at the pub 🌱
A dazzlingly honest story of her journey with climbing, her affinity with British Mountaineer Alison Hargreaves and the triumphs and adversities with womanhood which all overlap each other in a beautiful sequence of anecdotes and personal exploration. Long may women continue to tell their stories, share their bravery and adventures.

[Chantal Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

'A Line Above the Sky' is beautiful. Pure and simple.

I have heard of but not read Helen Mort's poetry or prose before, so I have no comparison, but I can say that I hungered to get back to this book. It is fairly short, but satisfying. You do not need to be a climber (I am not) or a mother (I am not) to be moved and absorbed. I do not plan to ever have a child, but for a brief span of time, I was able to experience a sense of motherhood through Mort's writing - perhaps the closest I have ever felt to it. And while I rarely "feel" my identity as a woman, something in me rang in answer to every passage about the expectations placed on women, and the power in subverting these.

The book is hard to describe. It is full of hard edges. But it easy to love.

(With thanks to PRH and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)

[Bob Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful memoir where Helen Mort traces a few overlapping stories- that of her idol and fellow mountaineer Alison Hargreaves, Hargreaves' son- a mountaineer himself, and Mort's own personal adventure to find her own path through life.

In it, Mort recounts her childhood and her desire to follow in the footsteps of her idol, but also how being alone against the challenges of nature also give her the distance to grow, to think, and to convalesce.

Her perspective about the unique challenges for women in her field is fascinating- not only the lack of role models and the sexism faced directly when climbing, but also in the external perceptions, and how they enter into her own thinking- for example, is she being selfish by taking time away to climb and be outside, even though men rarely, if ever, get the same treatment.

A deceptively short read, this book was a beautiful insight into her world and the joys of being small in the presence of nature.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Matthew Allcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prediction: this will be my favourite book of the year.

[Brittany D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad! The writing was lovely, so poetic. I don’t have children so couldn’t relate to a lot of this memoir but I enjoyed the bits about feminism in climbing, and the different gender expectations of women with families who still want to climb and take on risk.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book and a homage to climbing, to motherhood, and to Alison Hargreaves - a climber much admired by Ms Mort. It is obvious that Helen Mort is a poet and a master of the English language. Her ability to describe climbing to someone who has never attempted it, is awe inspiring. You can feel the wind and the tension. There is a lot here but it is a quick read as each chapter is a short vignette and you find yourself thinking, I’ll just read one more.

The passages about the author’s son Alfie and how he has changed her are very moving.

I am neither a mother nor a climber but I loved this book. It touches on humanity in a way that allows you to feel part of the adventure. And that’s a skill I admire.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley

[Florine Groenen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put the book away. I loved how Mort (seemingly easily) draws parallels between motherhood and climbing.

The book made me want to go outdoors myself, climb the next mountain, take a little bit more risk in life. It's also a refreshingly honest account of motherhood, something I would love to see more of in literature. At the same time it highlights the challenges women still face as a parent in any job/career/passion, simply because of being a woman.

Beautifully written and poetic, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone

[Lady Fancifull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revealing the strangeness of other lives, other choices: Mothers and Mountains

Non-fiction books which are both some kind of autobiography or memoir well written, and can take me into areas and experiences which are alien to my own, intrigue me.

And this is one.

Helen Mort is one of those beings who has felt the urge to push beyond physical limits into dangerous, exhilarating, possibly lethal territory. The payback being an absolute sense of tingling aliveness, focus and presence. She climbs mountains. Proper high altitude stuff where a false step might, and does, lead to fatalities.

I suffer from vertigo. I also have quite a well developed imagination, and also (if the writing is good enough – and it is, here) will subjectively enter into the experience the writer is describing.

Mort did not fill me with desire to go rockclimbing, though I do yearn for the experience (and sometimes get it) of being completely alone in ‘wild’ and surrendered to the natural world.

Instead, I felt quite sick, terrified, and panicky as she described her climbs – my imagination perennially making me dizzy as I thought about standing on the roof of the world looking down.

Mort is also a mother. I am not, but this is an experience, and a choice which awes me, that other women make. One I chose not to.

She writes equally transformationally, revealingly and vulnerably about the violent changes to her sense of self which pregnancy, childbirth, mothering gave and gives – the sense of her body and identity no longer being quite her own. The who she is of her, changed. The surrender demanded and taken by that helpless, powerful new life.

I am as much in awe of that generosity as at the fearlessness of surrender to the implacability of the high peaks.

This is also, in very large part, a celebration of other women mountaineers, of that community, and the engagement in an activity which has been, to a large degree, a manly club. And particularly a celebration of Alison Hargreaves, a fellow trailblazing mountaineer, and mother. Hargreaves and, indeed, a generation later, her adult son, both bitten by mountain fastnesses in their bloodstreams, despite being experienced, and skilful, died in this pursuit.

What I did viscerally understand, and have some personal engagement with, is Mort’s feminism. This territory I could access from my own experiences.

I was moved, engaged, humbled, exhilarated by this book. It is thought – and feeling – provoking and I am proof that a reader does not need to be either a mountaineer or a mother to be enriched by the read.

Ultimately, BOTH pursuits, scaling peaks, and bringing new beings into the world, absolutely life affirming

I received this as a digital ARC from the publishers, via Net Galley. To both of whom, thanks

[Laura Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of books that I feel have been written from the heart but this book is more than that. Helen Mort has spilled her heart right out onto the page and has done so using elegant, emotive, almost perfect prose. What a fabulous writer!

The book is a memoir that weaves the author’s dual experiences of climbing and motherhood and their impact on each other, as well as the story of two other climbers: Alison Hargreaves, who tragically lost her life while descending K2 in 1995, and her son Tom Ballard.

You do not have to be interested in climbing to enjoy this book. In fact, I would argue that it is better if you aren’t because you get to experience it through her words, living an experience that perhaps, like me, you would never have otherwise. Climbing has never been on my radar, yet, after reading this book, I feel that, for a short while at least, I got to partake in this exhilarating sport and find out what it really feels like to navigate rocky crags with just a rope to save me if I should fall. That is the power of beautiful writing.

Helen Mort has a talent for describing her inner emotions in a way that speaks to me and mirrors how I have felt in the past, such as feeling happier around men and insecure around women, and her descriptions of motherhood are so close to what I have felt but been unable to articulate, it is scary! In fact, I found myself nodding in agreement with a lot of the things she writes, realising that yes, I feel that, but have never tried or indeed had the ability to express my thoughts in such a way. The parts about being an only child and how that felt for her really resonated with me because I, too, have no siblings but could never really articulate how that made me feel. Then I read Helen’s perspective and thought, yes, that’s exactly how it feels.

Although this book talks a lot about climbing, sometimes it is used as a metaphor to underlie the author’s emotions and experiences, which is why you don’t need to be a climber to enjoy this book. It is a truly fascinating read and I recommend it if you like to read about another person’s experiences and thoughts and lives. This book certainly took me to places I had never been before!

Overall, this is an emotional, beautifully written book about the author’s experiences of climbing and motherhood, with the story of another climber and her fate woven throughout. It is fascinating, eye opening, compelling and thoroughly recommended. I absolutely loved reading it.

With thanks to Netgalley and Ebury Publishing for providing an advance review copy. All opinions in this review are my own.

[Megz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poet, a mountain climber, and a mother: one person. Helen Mort’s essays in A Line Above the Sky trace her experiences with climbing, motherhood, and climbing-and-motherhood, often by superimposing them on what she knows of her climbing idol, Alison Hargreaves.

When reading a memoir focussed on an author’s passions, some parts will ring true, and some may not. The memoir, after all, is the author’s truth. And passionate it is indeed - I have had but brief experiences with climbing, but Mort has the gift of transporting the reader to those crisp mountain mornings with gear on your back and a peak in the distance.

Slightly longer narratives are interspersed with short, poetic flights of thought - the latter following a direction I struggled to understand fully, but the rest gripping enough to keep going.

Mort’s reflections on the similarities and differences between herself and Hargreaves - that thought-experiment of looking into another’s life in order to find answers about your own - is something I can relate to, easily. It is notable that Mort explores the complicated relationship between climbing and motherhood: motherhood threatening to remove her from climbing, while climbing teaches her more about motherhood every day.

There is a trend where people - sportspersons, celebrities, authors - write books about motherhood; how it changes them. Not being a mother, I can’t claim to understand it all, but the uncomfortable sense that women must profess the impact that motherhood has on their lives, prevails. Yet Mort manages to steer clear of sentimental tropes, and makes no excuse for her loyalties to self and climbing.

Helen Mort has a gift for gently dissecting the history within her own passions - eventually delving deeper than her own experiences, to explore the history of climbing women, and how the climbing world’s treatment of women has been reflective of greater societal attitudes.

I imagine fans of the author will readily read this collection - as for me, I had never heard of her before this, and will recommend A Line Above the Sky to climbers of all levels of experience (including those who climb mostly in their dreams), as well as lovers of the outdoors. And yes, to mothers, too.

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

[Becky Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Line Above The Sky reads like poetry as Mort delves into her love of climbing, her admiration of Alison Hargreaves (a famous climber who tragically died climbing K2) and her experiences of new motherhood.

Whilst climbing isn't one of my passions, I appreciated the vivid pictures Mort painted of the Peak District, the raw honesty and I finished the book desperate to get out and see the places she writes of. Motherhood is a more familiar topic to me and through the comparisons it made everything feel more real. As a mother to a 3 month old, I found the writing on these early days the most poignant and honest and the struggles between being both a mother who wants to be with my child and a woman who wants to pursue my own passions were put into words so eloquently as Mort described this stage for both her and Alison. I don't think you have to be a climber or mother to appreciate this book but if you are it probably adds more depth.

Mort's admiration for Alison Hargreaves was evident from the beginning and the book felt like a joint autobiography as she shares the similarities in their lives. She also talks about Tom, Hargreaves' son who also died climbing at the young age of 21.

I really enjoyed reading A Line Above The Sky and really connected with Mort's writing

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

[Becky Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Line Above The Sky reads like poetry as Mort delves into her love of climbing, her admiration of Alison Hargreaves (a famous climber who tragically died climbing K2) and her experiences of new motherhood.

Whilst climbing isn't one of my passions, I appreciated the vivid pictures Mort painted of the Peak District, the raw honesty and I finished the book desperate to get out and see the places she writes of. Motherhood is a more familiar topic to me and through the comparisons it made everything feel more real. As a mother to a 3 month old, I found the writing on these early days the most poignant and honest and the struggles between being both a mother who wants to be with my child and a woman who wants to pursue my own passions were put into words so eloquently as Mort described this stage for both her and Alison. I don't think you have to be a climber or mother to appreciate this book but if you are it probably adds more depth.

Mort's admiration for Alison Hargreaves was evident from the beginning and the book felt like a joint autobiography as she shares the similarities in their lives. She also talks about Tom, Hargreaves' son who also died climbing at the young age of 21.

I really enjoyed reading A Line Above The Sky and really connected with Mort's writing.

[Val Robson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written book combining Helen Mort's talents and passions as both an award winning author and a climber. Helen's own experiences of climbing and motherhood are recounted alongside telling the tale of Alison Hargreaves and her son Tom Ballard who both tragically lost their lives in climbing accidents. Alison was arguably the greatest female UK climber ever. She summitted Everest alone in 1995 without the use of oxygen or the backup of a Sherpa team. Sadly she died later that year while descending K2.

Helen is in awe of Alison Hargreaves climbing record but when motherhood comes to Helen it makes her think more closely about what other female climbers do when faced with the dilemma of the responsibility of being a mother and wanting to do a potentially dangerous sport. The book is well written and there's a real sense of raw honesty coming from the author as she wrestles with the conflicting emotions she faces. Helen has written a lot of poetry which is evident in the writing style. Some chapters were written in the second person which gave a more poetic and personal feel to the prose.

With thanks to NetGalley and Ebury Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ape · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and so addictive. I only picked this up from the library yesterday afternoon and I've already finished it. I've never gone rock climbing in my life, have no desire to do so - but I do love being out in the wilds and walking, so some things resonate, and the rest is just fascinating. It's a wonderful memoir focussing on Mort's love of rockclimbing, how it started and developed through her life, and how things got put on pause when she had her son. It's also about becoming a mother and trying to bridge the gap between being yourself and doing everything that is needed of mother. And writing about her mountaineering hero Alison Hargreaves (I'd never heard of her before I started this book but I'm curious to read more about her now), who died/was blown away on the peak of K2 during bad storms in her early 30s and left two young children behind. And the gender politics surrounding that. Was she a bad selfish mother for doing something that was an essense of her personality? Or should she have quit the risks when she had children? Would we have made the same judgements if she had been a father? Which is a double edged swords, as do we see fathers more dispensible in society than mothers?

Borrowed from the library.

[Wackelkontakt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up A Line Above the Sky wanting to read in the genre Nature Writing and was initially disappointed because the book is mostly a memoir. Having said that, once I got over myself, I very much enjoyed Helen Mort's writing and her ability to deftly weave biography, memoir, and poetry together.

Helen Mort is an amateur climber, who, like many sports amateurs, is fascinated by those at the top of the sport. She identifies with Allison Hargreaves, a female climber who accomplished many climbing firsts, some for women in the sport and some simply in the sport. Mort goes far beyond restatement of facts that could be read elsewhere to describe her own feelings and reactions to Hargreaves's successes and failures from the perspective of a climber, a woman, and as a mother with aspirations that her own son will somebody take to the mountains.

I am not a climber. Perhaps, were I one, I would have found her descriptions of climbing and routes more enlightening and entertaining. As it is, some passages fell a bit flat and difficult to relate to because of my lack of climbing vocabulary and experience.

I will keep my eyes open for her next book and wish her all the best in her writing career. Talent abounds.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a woman who has chosen to remain childless. I have never felt any inclination to become a mother, never felt broody, never revelled in the baby smell that other women wax lyrical about. I have never had any doubt about my decision to remain childless.

I have felt the pull of the mountains. I have wanted to climb and have climbed on Stanage Edge but never pursued the hobby after a panic attack on an indoor climbing wall.

I remember the media reports of the death on K2 of Alison Hargreaves’s although I didn’t remember her name. I remembered that she was another to two young children and that society judges her as selfish, as wanting, for attempting her climb when she had two young children.

All of these things drew me to this book and I was not disappointed. It’s brilliantly and beautifully written. It’s thought provoking, honest and brutal.

I checked the book out of my local library after it was briefly mentioned in another book I was reading. Now, I feel that I want to go out and buy a copy. I want to own this book. I want to be able to dip back into it. I want to re-read sections that made me stop and think. I want to mark passages to return to. I want to dedicate a day to sit and read it again from cover to cover.

[LilyRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Line Above the Sky by Helen Mort is a powerful and moving memoir of mountain climbing and motherhood. It is a book about being pushed to your limits literally facing the danger and beauty of nature and the emotional extremes of becoming a mother. The author expertly balances both nature and nurture in the context of her writing reflecting on why people desire to reach new heights climbing and the intensity and awakening of having a child. The narrative weaves in the authors own personal experiences with the story of other climbers, focusing on Alison Hargreaves who lost her life descending K2 in 1995 and the tragic death of her son Tom Ballard also whilst climbing. It is a compelling and visceral piece of storytelling that explores what it means to climb as a woman, a mother and the risks we take. It is a tale of endurance both in the skies and on the ground and an ode to the history of climbing. A unique, beautiful book for fans of heartfelt memoirs about motherhood, nature and mountaineering. 4 Stars ✨.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

[Rosie Byers · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been a lot shorter. I think the author could have talked about her own independent experience rather than writing in such a long winded way about other famous climbers.

I think a fair bit of this was focused on a take that women should be able to participate in the dangerous sides of climbing in the same way that men are. But I don’t always think a lack of consequences for actions should be equally distributed amongst genders. Perhaps a more interesting take would be one that appreciated the way that the death of male climbers impacts on their families too. Equality can be about accountability. Women shouldn’t be the only ones in the firing line when they do dangerous things - but to be fair - i don’t think they are. It’s a fairly widespread opinion that free soloists and ice climbers are a bit unhinged and the likelihood of their deaths are considered by their friends and family, regardless of their gender. The whole heady appreciation for lofty goals and daring dazzling mountaineering adventures justifying the dastardly implications of early death felt a bit uncomplicated.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

" A story of mountains and motherhood" is the tagline for this beautiful book, but that doesn't do it justice: it's about so much more than that. It's about the female experience, about grief. It's about family, and passion. It's about the affinity the author has always felt for fellow climber Alison Hargreaves, who died on K2. It's about both the Derbyshire landscape and the interior landscape, about the challenge and about the chase for something more, something bigger.

I've loved Helen's writing for a long time, and this foray into non-fiction was beautifully done - I'm completely unsurprised it is winning awards! I live in Derbyshire, so it had an extra layer of loveliness for me as I recognised a lot of the local spots Helen talks about, but you don't need to know the landscape to enjoy this book (neither, as others have said, do you need to be a climber or a mother).

A fabulous book, and I can't wait to read whatever Helen writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley, and to the publisher, for granting me a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephen Dilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

'A Line Above the Sky' is an incredible memoir in which Helen Mort reflects on her experiences of mountain climbing and how these connect to family and gender, particularly motherhood. Mort draws widely on the stories of other climbers, particularly Alison Hargreaves and her son Tom Ballard, both of whom are well-known, but because I knew very little about mountaineering I enjoyed discovering their stories for the first time.

Helen Mort is a poet so it is no surprise that the writing is so beautiful, not just when describing climbing but also when writing about how she is changed by becoming a mother, as well as as a number of other topics from writing to online sexual abuse, all of which connect seamlessly to her central message. This is a stunning piece of writing which deserves to become a classic of mountain literature but is also about so much more. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an ARC to review!

[Jill Westerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an account, more a meditation, on motherhood and climbing. The writer, who is also a poet, Helen Mort, has been climbing since early childhood. Becoming pregnant causes her to think more about her body, the child within her, and after her son Alfie is born she makes more and more links with another woman climber she admired - Alison Hargreaves and her son Tom Ballard.

The writing is beautiful, not poetry, but influenced in that there isn't a useless word or infelicitous phrase. I especially enjoyed it as Helen clearly lives very close to me in Sheffield and describes the streets I walk along as well as the Derbyshire hills I visit (but don't climb) regularly.

A short book and one well worth reading, whether or not you are a climber it is a fascinating and unusual piece. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

[Marie (UK) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book via netgalley. Shamefully. it has sat on my shelf for a long time. Quoted as being part memoir and part questioning why we are drawn to danger I expected more from this book. There is no doubt that the author has a beautiful literary style but for me it felt like it osat between two places without ever really fully grasping either.

The mountaineering felt more like a person besotted by another climber rather than anything else. Her memoir really struck me as someone in the midst of a post natal depression. The author is clear about having issues for some time, taking anti-depressants for a long time only stopping when she became pregnant. I felt that part of the book became rambling I lost the sense of continuity that i think the author hoped for.

It was a very quick read but not one that I will rave of to others

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, poetic memoir about mountains, risk and motherhood. Helen Mort, a climber and mother, looks at her life and the conflicting challenges she faces of responsibility and adventure. She compares her own situation to that of the climber and mother, Alison Hargreaves. The descriptions of landscape, mountains, and the Peak Distract hills are amazing - she evokes their wild, dangerous beauty with much verve and vibrancy. This is a fascinating, emotional and lyrical work - and well worth reading.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All views are my own.

[Joren Van Veen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mooi persoonlijk boek van Helen Mort, zelf dichter en alpinist, waarin ze filosofisch schrijft over alpinisme en moederschap. Ze vertelt (en reflecteert) vooral over Allison Hargreaves, een alpiniste en moeder die zwanger nog de Noordwand van de Eiger beklom en uiteindelijk helaas stierf op de K2. Maakt dit Alison een slechte moeder? Maakt het Helen een slechte moeder als ze -ook als moeder- nog steeds klimt?

Dit soort vragen stelt Helen zichzelf in mooie essays, waarin ze verteld over haar tochten en wat klimmen voor haar en haar vrienden betekent.

Een aanrader voor mijn klimvrienden!

[Megan George · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspirational book for a new year and new goals. This beautifully written book is half memoir and half Mort writing about the woman who deeply inspired her, Alison Hargreaves. It is about Mort’s journey having a child while rock climbing and drawing inspiration from Hargreaves, who was also a climber and a mother. Mort wrote about the feelings of managing a risky climb, how people treated a woman climber, and then a mother climber. Hargreaves was the first women to climb Mount Everest without oxygen or the help of Sherpas. The media often referred to her as a mother while not describing the fathers who climb as such. They also routinely asked her how she managed such a difficult and dangerous job knowing children are home waiting for her. A question not asked of the men.

I related to a lot of Mort’s experiences and emotions, as I’m sure many women will. I’d have read another 200 pages if she had written them. This is a book I would reread.

Read more reviews: meganevelyn.com/books

[Andrew Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing, the writing is just magnificent, poetic and says so much with just a few words. It’s part memoir, part climbing history. The parallels between Helen and Alison Hargreaves, the repeated use of the metaphor of rock climbing and parent hood (specifically motherhood but there is plenty in there that dads can relate to.) make this a brilliant, brilliant book. I don’t think I’ll read a better non fiction book this year