From the pages of The Stranger’s Guide To Talliston comes this authentic replica message in a bottle.
 
In our Japanese room within the ancient carved bookcase stands a white selenite crystal set in a raked sand garden. In the corner of this beautiful diorama is a green wine bottle carved with a monkey. Inside is the message in a bottle inspired from the pages of the Talliston novel.
 
The message inside begins…
 
Friday 23 May 1986
To Mum and Dad,
I am writing this from somewhere in the middle of the ocean...
 
And is signed by Joe, the thirteen-year-old hero of the novel.
 
The bottle is a vintage Affentaler wine bottle embossed with a golden monkey. The monkey is a raised design and finished in a gold-coloured paint. Affentaler has its ancestries in the Cistercian monks, who were nurturing grapes around 1250. Because of the local chapels, the valley was known as Ave Valley, named after Ave Maria which in German is “Ave Tal.” Over the centuries this area became Affental Valley, which means Valley of the Monkeys.
 
The letter was written as part of a competition in 2019 when the book was launched. The letter in the bottle at Talliston is by winner Lucia Milsom, while this version is by runner-up, Ji Hook.
 
This magical gift consists of a three-page paper letter rolled inside a green wine bottle decorated with a golden monkey and sealed with a cork. Limited edition of three.
 
Dimensions: 36 cm H x 7 cm diameter
Talliston Country of Origin: Norway