WRITER
Upcoming Events
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Alnwick Story Fest
8th March 2026 10.30am - 11.30am
Alnwick Playhouse Studio
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Paisley Book Fest
17th May 5.00pm - 6.00pm
Paisley Town Hall
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Boswell Book Fest
9th May 1.30pm - 2.30pm
Dumfries House, Ayrshire
‘Drystone - a life rebuilt is Absorbing, enraging, funny and moving. like a Scottish mixed-race Monica Heisey with bonus dry stone walling, De Garis unpacks the effects of racism, intergenerational trauma, and undiagnosed neurodivergence on her relationships and life, deftly interweaving the work of walling with the slow, deliberate work of rebuilding something beautiful, functional and sustainable.’ –
Polly Atkin, author of Some of Us Just Fall
DRYSTONE - A LIFE REBUILT
Kristie De Garis spent years running – from places, people, and parts of herself. But chaos always followed.
When she moved to rural Scotland, she hoped to find peace. Instead, in the space and silence, she was forced to confront everything she had tried to escape: racism, trauma, undiagnosed ADHD, addiction and the stark realities of motherhood.
Then, in the land around her, and in the slow, stubborn craft of drystone walling, she began to see a different life. One that was quiet, deliberate, and her own.
Drystone - A Life Rebuilt is unflinchingly honest and unexpectedly funny. A story about the weight of the past, resilience and the hard work of living on your own terms.
Some things may never change. What matters is the life you build anyway.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
“Kristie de Garis’ debut book, it’s memoir but it’s also poetry, and riveting as any thriller, is a tour de force. It’s a story of crisis and betrayal but it’s also like finally having coffee with your former women’s studies professor who just lets loose and tells you what her life is *really* like. Warm, funny, scandalous.” - From amazon.com
“I read the English edition, and it is a wonderful but also deeply uncomfortable book. Kristie de Garis writes with brutal honesty yet incredible elegance about her experiences of racism, sexism, and alcoholism. She does this without accusation, but with great energy and unflinching openness. Her journey through injury and abuse toward a self-determined, contented life is impressive, and interwoven with beautiful depictions of the Scottish landscape. A book that is wonderful, demanding, and profoundly hopeful.” - From amazon.de
“Really really enjoyed this one. Kristie speaks with a clarity about her life experiences and we are a witness to both her undoing and her rebuilding, through drystone and through life. A top 10 read of this year.” - From GoodReads
'An incredibly powerful debut, Drystone - A Life Rebuilt is an account of survival, strength, and quiet transformation that stays with you long after the final page. Written with clarity and compassion, it reflects not only life’s hardest moments, but its tender, deeply human ones too. A life-affirming work.' -
Rebecca Smith, Author of Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside
ABOUT THE BOOK
Drystone – A Life Rebuilt is a memoir, but it’s not really about drystone walling.
It’s about the past. And the hard, deliberate work of rebuilding a life on your own terms.
I spent years running, from places, people, and parts of myself. But chaos always found me.
Growing up in the shadow of my family’s brutal experiences of racism, I faced my own, dodging slurs and pennies thrown by school bullies. I felt connected to the land beneath my feet, but not to the people around me. By fifteen, I was drinking whatever was handed to me. By twenty-one, I was married with children.
Through it all, I kept going. Relentlessly, not gracefully.
In my thirties, I moved to rural Scotland hoping for peace. Instead, in the space and silence, I was forced to confront everything I’d tried to outrun: racism, trauma, addiction, undiagnosed ADHD, and the realities of raising my daughters in a world that often fails us.
Not a Neat Redemption Story
Drystone isn’t a story of magical healing. It’s about recovery as daily labour. Slow, quiet, often invisible.
Each chapter is built around a different part of a wall, from foundations to hearting to cope stones, mirroring the work of rebuilding a life. Choosing what to carry, letting go of what doesn’t fit. It’s not about perfection. It’s about balance, structure, persistence.
Rooted in Land and Legacy
Set against the landscapes of Caithness and Perthshire, this memoir threads nature writing, social commentary, and lived experience. It explores race, class, motherhood, and the uneasy inheritance of family.
Nature isn’t presented as escape, the land isn’t romanticised. It’s where life happens. Where work happens. Where clarity, real clarity, can sometimes be found.
For Readers Looking for the Unvarnished Truth
Drystone is unflinching and unsentimental. It doesn’t tie trauma up with a bow or pretend healing is linear. It’s raw, angry, lucid, funny, and deeply human.
It’s a book for anyone who has ever felt they had to rebuild from rubble. Who understands that the work of becoming isn’t tidy. It’s slow. And it’s stubborn.
