I am a book blogger and author. I am always looking to learn more about nature, health & happiness. In my day job I help run two garden centres.
Author of The Cactus Surgeon: Using Nature to Fix A Faulty Brain
Living in London, I suffered burnout and was diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder. With no information available to help me, I found my own way to get better.
Growing up in a garden centre, my childhood was full of nature and plants. This was in stark contrast to the concrete of the capital, where I became unwell. In searching for the answers to my illness, I wondered whether being torn from my pot and replanted in a more hostile environment was the reason my body started to malfunction.
After seeking out alternative therapies, and moving to the countryside of North Essex, my ‘green recovery’ continued.
The Cactus Surgeon is a nature and health memoir full of mindful moments, savouring the small wonders of nature.
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If you want to read my tips on how to deal with FND, this is a good place to start.
Five star reviews for The Cactus Surgeon.
Buy The Cactus Surgeon today!
You can order via your favourite bookshop – they can order in a copy via their wholesalers. Perrywood Tiptree and Perrywood Sudbury and Red Lion Books in Colchester all have copies (while stocks last!).
It is also available via Amazon and other e-reader stores.
If you live outside the UK please order via Amazon or your normal book store.
Keep in touch
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About The Author
Hannah Powell (née Bourne) is Communications and HR Director for the Perrywood Garden Centres she runs with her dad and two brothers. When she was six years old, she wanted to be a cactus surgeon.
Before coming back into the family business, she had a successful career in PR and marketing, running high-profile campaigns for clients, including Barclaycard and Domino’s Pizza. She was part of the team that launched Global Entrepreneurship Week, an annual campaign to encourage young people to set up businesses worldwide.
She now lives in North Essex with her husband, daughter and many plants.
Hannah is media trained and available for interviews, Q&As, signings and podcasts.
You can contact her via cactussurgeon@gmail.com
New Project!
I’m working on a new book. The working title is ‘Only In A Garden Centre’ and it will lift the lid on funny stories from garden centres across the UK.
Would you like to contribute? Find out more.
Feeling Blah?
It’s my stop on the blog tour for Feeling Blah by Tanith Carey. Before reading, I had never heard of anhedonia, which is when you feel more bad than good: This book will be useful for people who know they are not depressed but yet feel like they don’t enjoy life as much as they…
I need to get my hands dirty
OK, I admit it. I desperately need to get my hands in the soil. I missed gardening when I lived in London in the noughties and only realised when I suffered from burnout and functional neurological disorder. Then I moved to Essex and immersed myself in rural life, enjoying reconnecting with the natural world. I…
Isaac and The Egg
Today it’s my stop on the blog tour for a book which is like nothing else I have ever read. Isaac and the Egg is a tale of grief and recovery. Of love and friendship. Of life and loss. It’s hard to believe this is Bobby Palmer’s first novel. It’s easy to read, like The…
Be careful in whose footsteps you tread
I’m happily married and will celebrate twelve years of marriage this year. When my husband proposed near Beachy Head in Sussex, he was surprised at the detail of our conversation as we walked back to the car. I already had ‘thoughts’ about how the wedding might go. I was quite surprised myself. Very wisely, we…
Recent five star reads
I always review the books I am gifted with but sometimes run out of time to review the books I have bought. So here is a quick round-up of the books I’ve read so far in 2023 that I’ve rated five stars: A Duck Out Of Water: Mum, dementia and care home life by Helen…
A future classic
It’s my stop today, and day one, on the Random Things blogger tour for The Last Tree: Seed of Hope by Luke Adam Hawker. Sometimes I am sent a book to review, and upon opening it, I immediately know it will take a place on the shelves I reserve for books I will always keep.…