Little Ruins - by Manni Coe (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

AN iPAPER BEST NEW BOOK OUT IN AUGUST 2025

'Beautifully written and deeply moving' CLARE BALDING
'An important voice' CATHY RENTZENBRINK
'I devoured it in a day . . . An open-hearted book' CLOVER STROUD

The Corner is a place where birds with broken wings will come to heal.

Looking to begin a new chapter after years on the move, Manni Coe and his partner take a risk and buy 'The Corner', a crumbling but beautiful 150-year-old farmstead tucked into a remote valley in Andalusia, surrounded by olive trees. It's perfect for their unconventional family of three: Jack, Manni and his youngest brother, Reuben. Secluded from the village by a river and in awe of the extraordinary Spanish landscape, Manni watches their land teem with mountain goats and wild boar, red deer and seasonal swallows. He begins to feel that this might be the place where each of them will find their peace.

But nothing is ever so simple. Though their hilltop village offers food, fellowship and guidance, many visitors bring their own problems and troubled pasts over the river. While Manni and Jack work to afford rebuilding The Corner, who will care for Reuben in the way that he deserves? And as Manni starts to realise that the scars from his childhood - kept hidden for all these years - might not have healed at all, a single, terrible event threatens everything the three of them have spent so long building together.

From landscape and poetry to family and friendship, Little Ruins is a heart-mending exploration of human connection, nature's gifts and the power of love in all its forms.

Review Quotes

"We live in a world of beauty and brutality and there, in the balance, am I," writes Manni Coe in his expansive and luminescent memoir. He takes his readers from the rugged landscapes of Andalusia to the painful recesses of lingering traumas. Deeply intimate and told with generous observation, his writing thrums with glorious verve. At its core, Little Ruins is a rallying cry for living a life truly connected to the land and within community"--ANDRÉS N. ORDORICA

"Little Ruins is beautifully written and deeply moving. The power of Manni's story and the depth of his soul will stay with you long after you've read the final chapter"--CLARE BALDING

"Emotionally intelligent and deeply thoughtful . . . We could all do with embracing those people and places that feel like home, with being honest and open with those we love. Manni's book blazes a trail in that regard. We should be grateful it exists"--Waterstones Bookseller Review

"Evocative and moving"-- "Daily Mail"

"From the author of brother. do. you. love. me. comes an account of his move to a remote farmstead in Andalusia, where he finally confronts his past traumas. It might be hard to read, but it is also hard to forget"-- "iNews"

"I loved this book so much and devoured it in a day. All of life is contained in its beautiful story of love and grief, addiction and recovery, despair and redemption. An open-hearted book that I found deeply consoling"--CLOVER STROUD

"I so admire the naked honesty with which Manni lays bare his past struggles and traumas. Rarely have I read a memoir with so much beating heart on the page - it pulses with pain but also with grace and love. What's also magical about this book is the setting; and the way in which the elemental and often brutal beauty of the Andalusian landscape works its alchemy on the little ruins of ordinary human lives"--CAROLINE SANDERSON

"Manni Coe is not only a beautiful human being and writer but also an important voice on trauma"--CATHY RENTZENBRINK

"Manni Coe's Little Ruins is many things: chief among which is a memoir of place, that marks trauma and evokes language alongside love and limitation. It is also a map of remembering, pairing pain with the patience of time, family, solitude and friendship"--PÁDRAIG Ó TUAMA

"This is such a beautiful book - poetic, compelling and, ultimately, deeply healing. Many have tried to capture the soul of the Andalusian landscape, but few have succeeded so well as Manni Coe. He is the perfect companion for a journey into a magical world that will continue to resonate well beyond the final page"--JASON WEBSTER

About the Author

Manni Coe grew up in Yorkshire and Berkshire and now lives between Andalusia and Dorset. He works as a private tour guide in both Spain and around the world, and is a registered olive oil farmer who produces extra virgin olive oil. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling memoir brother. do. you. love. me.

mannicoe.com @ManniCoeWrites