Hark - by Alice Vincent (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

As the world grows ever noisier, Alice Vincent - twice Wainwright Prize-longlisted author of Why Women Grow - returns with a journey into sound that will ring true for many women

'Alice Vincent is on song' KATHERINE MAY
'Stimulating and humane' AMY LIPTROT
'A quiet and profound kind of miracle' CLOVER STROUD

Like so many of us, Alice Vincent had become overwhelmed by the sensory overload punctuating her every moment. Then a baby's heartbeat arrived. A rapid, pulsing whoosh of white noise. An undeniable rhythm. Suddenly, Alice's life changed. With the birth of her son came a new experience of the sensory world around her.

From the phantom crying heard by mothers across the world to the nightingale's song and the crackle of the aurora borealis, Hark is a journey into sound and the changing seasons of a life that will ring true for many women.

Review Quotes

Meditative - New Statesman
A luminous account of motherhood and music - iPaper
An ardent recommendation . . . Hark offers a heartfelt, powerful exploration of the importance of sound and how it lands for women. It is a book whose themes will surely echo with many readers - Independent
A book about listening, being heard and the author's shifting relationship with sound in the early years of motherhood - Guardian
I loved this exploration of the ways that sound lands in female bodies. Alice Vincent is on song - KATHERINE MAY
Stimulating and humane, Hark is vibrating with interesting people and fresh ideas and made me hear with greater attention - AMY LIPTROT
Immersing myself in the beautiful, deeply thoughtful pages of Hark has a profound effect on me. Reading it has been an incredibly emotional experience, and has made me look at, and listen to, my own world in bright new ways. This book is a quiet yet profound kind of miracle - CLOVER STROUD
A beautiful book, which left me thinking deeply and intimately about my own sonically-charged life. Hark will make you feel more alert to sound, silence and everything in-between and will leave you more curious about what it means to listen and be listened to - AMY KEY
Tune out the world for a moment and tune in to these beautiful musings on music, moments, magic and matrescence - EMMA GANNON
Hark not only made me cry, it opened my ears to new kinds of understanding. Gorgeously written, truly sensuous, gut-wrenchingly powerful, heartfelt and real, this is a deeply important book, alive and tuned in to the beautiful cacophony of the world. Hark is Alice Vincent's best book yet - CHARLOTTE RUNCIE
A truly beautiful piece of work. Poignant, timely, playful and unlike anything I've ever read before. Vincent is the best kind of non-fiction writer - curious about other people's lived experience and generous with her own. This will resonate with so many women who long to be heard - LAUREN BRAVO
As I was reading, I kept thinking of people I wanted to recommend this book to. A wonderful book about becoming a mother but also about being more than a mother - full of surprises - ROWAN HISAYO BUCHANAN
An important, refreshing and beautiful gift of a book. This book is my favourite of Alice's so far. I am so moved by the way she weaves her story alongside the stories of other women so generously; with such grace. Sound and self, music and mothering, love and loss, breakdown and becoming: Hark speaks to the journey of matrescence so achingly well. I am so grateful it exists - KERRI N� DOCHARTAIGH
Unique, profound and joyfully intellectual - SUNYI DEAN
Honest and revelatory, Hark compels you to dumb the din of life, listen to the world anew and learn how to be heard - MICHELLE OGUNDEHIN
In Hark, Alice Vincent sets out to explore how sound can be restorative, and whether listening more deeply might help us reconnect to ourselves and others - 'Best Books to Look Out For in 2025', Independent
Vincent effortlessly intertwines her personal experiences with the sounds, voices and listening practices of others. Her book exemplifies the art of listening, a skill she herself so expertly demonstrates - Oxford Review of Books

About the Author

Alice Vincent is a writer. She is the author of four books, including Why Women Grow and Rootbound: Rewilding a Life, both longlisted for the Wainwright Prize and named as 'Books of the Year' by the Financial Times, Independent, Stylist and others. Alice is a columnist for the Guardian and writes for titles including Vogue, Financial Times and the Sunday Times. She writes savour, a newsletter dedicated to the delicious things in life, and hosts the Why Women Grow and In Haste podcasts. She lives in South London.

@alicevincentwrites @alice_emily