Sleepless

This book will inspire you to get up, light a candle, and experience your own Night Self – ERICA WAGNER * Financial Times *Reveals a wondrous night world … Sleepless is more than an antidote to sleep zealotry; it marks a special place to embrace and enjoy – CATHERINE DE LANGE * New Scientist *Abbs invites the reader to lean right in … lyrical prose … and extensive research illustrate the value many women have found historically in embracing their Night Selves * Irish Times *[Full of] numerous examples of creative women whose greatest, most avant-garde works were conceived and produced at night … Abbs urges us to mine our night brains for creative profit … to stop catastrophising about how you’ll cope the following day * Sunday Times Magazine *The beautiful prose in this book is otherworldly and an ode to insomnia … Having skilfully merged her research and personal experiences, Abbs takes us on a journey through her own psyche. Not only is this book extremely readable, it is also deeply relatable * The Lady *I have never read a writer who could turn the lemons of sleep deprivation into the lemonade of creative inspiration quite like Annabel Abbs … Weaving history, scientific research on brain chemistry and Abbs’s own personal nocturnal explorations, Sleepless is uniquely engaging and hopeful account of a condition that is more typically a truly miserable experience * Salon *Transforms the dead of the night into a place alive with feminine creativity, curiosity and self-discovery. You’ll find yourself longing for the dark – Tabitha CarvanA beautiful book that weaves together science, storytelling and self-discovery. Soft, soothing and soulful – Nicola Jane Hobbs, author of The Relaxed WomanThis book asks one of the most beautiful questions a Big Soul can ask herself: What if our insomnia was a wondrous, life-thriving thing? As a reader, we answer it together with weary but deeply fulfilled relief, yes, yes, it is! – Sarah Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of This One Wild and Precious LifeA rich and revelatory exploration of the creative and liberating potential of the night, and a paean to the life-enhancing power of the dark. My newborn Night Self was left longing for more – Sharon Blackie, author of The Enchanted LifeI adore all of Annabel’s vibrant and insightful writing, but this walk in the dark was an utter revelation. Beautifully written in engaging first-person narrative, I now have an idea of the beauty of this side of our lives – Kathryn AaltoFascinating … seeking to avoid what she later comes to value, Annnabel’s relationship with the dark shows us the night can become a time of creative potential and healing – Nina Edwards, author of DarknessAbbs strikes a contrarian note by daring to extol and even ‘befriend’ the sleep deprivation she experienced after a series of bereavements … Abbs is right to push back against the current sleep cult, as one thing is clear: anxiety about sleep will only make it more elusive * Tablet *An absolute gem. One to read and re-read – Charlotte Peacock

Annabel Abbs is an award-winning writer of highly researched fiction and non-fiction. As Annabel Abbs, she is the author of Windswept: Why Women Walk, voted a top ten 2021 travel book. As Annabel Streets she wrote 52 Ways to Walk: The Surprising Science of Walking for Wellness and Joy, One Week at a Time and co-wrote The Age-Well Project: Easy Ways to a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life. She has written for a wide range of titles, including the Guardian, Daily Mail, Telegraph, Tatler and the Paris Review, and is a Fellow of the Brown Foundation. She lives in London and Sussex with her husband and four children.