A Human Love Story: Journeys to the Heart

Matt Hopwood

Feb. 2018 · Casemate Publishers

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“An archive of real-life stories about all aspects of human relationships” curated by a man traveling on foot throughout Scotland (BBC Arts).

Matt Hopwood set off with just a small bag and a walking stick, no possessions and an open mind to walk many hundreds of miles the length and breadth of the country. He relied entirely on the generosity of strangers for shelter and asked people to tell him their transforming stories. They did. All of these deeply enthralling, profoundly honest stories weave a web of tenderness, connection, compassion and community.

For some people their love story will span decades and tell a tale of romantic love evolving through the passing years. Others’ stories express fleeting moments of connection, care, concern. Most love stories are marked by sadness and loss. Some stories are concerned with maternal and paternal love, others with a love of place, a visceral connection with spirit through landscape. Love stories also connect deeply with our identities, in how we belong and how we are welcomed in society. Each story is different. Each beautiful. Each valuable.

“A delicately woven tapestry of human life, collected by a stranger who offered an ear to listen without judgment and who has the depth of soul to interpret the complicated layers of love.” —from the foreword by Clare Balding

“This thoughtfully presented lexicon of love contains honest accounts from men and women of all ages and offers an antidote to a life where it can be surprisingly hard to say ‘I love you.’”—The Wee Review

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Matt Hopwood is a storyteller and a facilitator of sharing space. He is a graduate in Applied Anthropology from Goldsmith’s University, a former teacher and worked alongside community projects in Kenya, Palestine and Israel. He admits to having struggled to feel or express any emotions at all until he reached his 30s and, having decided to tackle this, he has made it his life’s mission to build, grow and enhance connections between people through their simple and vulnerable, precious stories of love.