John Mitchinson’s

Zeitgeisters

Profiles of the people whose ideas are helping to shape the future

LAMORNA
ASH

Writer

It is unlikely that Lamorna Ash could have anticipated that her second book, Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: A New Generation’s Search for Religion, would have proved so timely.

The assassination of the US activist Charlie Kirk has pushed a certain form of Christianity to the front of the news cycle, and there has been much talk about Gen Z’s re-engagement with religious faith – particularly among young men – in an age marked out by deep political and social divisions and a growing sense of disenchantment with the neoliberal status quo. The moment seems ripe for a book that offers a synoptic account of where Christianity finds itself in contemporary Britain and what, if anything, it might offer.

Where to Start?

On the face of it, Ash is an improbable guide. Her first book, Dark Salt Clear, was an exquisitely observed account of her year living in a Cornish fishing town, which was warmly reviewed, shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, and went on to win a Somerset Maughan Award.

Ash came from a family who only went to church at Christmas and was busy living the life of a secular Londoner in her late 20s: in and out of relationships; experimenting with her sexuality; drinking too much; dabbling with drugs; clubbing hard.

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