Book Review - Diane Setterfield - Once upon a river

"A dark midwinter’s night. The Swan, an ancient inn on the banks of the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger.

 In his arms is the corpse of a drowned child.

Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can it be explained by science?

And who exactly is the little girl? As news spreads of the child who drowned and lived again, three families come to claim her, and the stories of three lost girls (and a missing pig) come to light. In the background is the river itself: powerful, unknowable, lifegiving and lifetaking.

There is talk of a ferryman who appears to those who get into trouble on the river … But at the Swan Inn, is anything ever just a story?"

✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Yet again I can't remember where I saw this mentioned but I am so glad I added it to the wish-list. Once upon a river is a beautifully-crafted tale that weaves in and out of the lives of people living along the river and the mysterious tale of the girl who died but didn't that emerges over the course of a year. At turns fabulous and ethereal yet it also feels firmly rooted in the everyday lives of farmers, villagers and innkeepers, villains and gentlefolk. Re-counting both the cruelty and kindnesses that ordinary people visit on each other, it has been a wonderful read. There is blackmail, murder and kidnap here but there is also love, redemption and hope. The river is at the heart of everything and the story twists and turns along it, pulling you very willingly with it. It is most definitely set in the past and has that rooted feel of a story that could have been told around all manner of Winter firesides for a very long time. As you may have guessed, Once upon a river has really resonated with me and will be something I'll want to savour for a while before moving on to another story.

Borrowed as an e-book from the library app so no pretty cover pictures to share I'm afraid but a link to the author's website is here and the ISBNs for those that prefer to hunt that way: Ebook: ISBN 9781473555815; Paperback ISBN 9780857525659.

This is the author's third novel and I will definitely be looking at the other two - The thirteenth tale and Bellman & Black - but maybe not straightaway.

Book review - John Lewis-Stempel - The wood - the life and times of Cockshutt Wood

"A wood is different to a forest. A wood is wild, but not so wild it is frightening. You cannot get physically lost in a wood, only spiritually and imaginatively absorbed." from the Preface.

This morning I finished reading John Lewis-Stempel's  - The wood. I've seen his writing recommended in several places and thought it was time to dip my toes. A diary based on his last year living with a mixed woodland as part of his farm in Herefordshire it's peppered with beautiful haunting imagery, practical observations, wry humour, poetry, quotations and even the odd recipe. This is wood managed in the old way - livestock is grazed here, "pests" shot and usually eaten, wood and other crops harvested and room made for nature in a practical part-of-everyday life way. It is not a woodland left to run wild, it's not a playground, it is a core part of his life.
There is joy, sadness, beauty and cruelty - after all nature does it all and this is a diary. I enjoyed the style of the writing and found it really easy to follow which was unexpected as I'm not a huge non-fiction reader by habit. The vegetarian in me wasn't offended by the hunting or husbandry descriptions - the writing is just too matter-of-fact, this is how it is, for that kind of nonsense to creep in. I also learned things in that gentle way you do when the writing is easy and facts generously shared - I didn't realise we call people crabby because of the tartness of the crab apple or that a shrew only lives for a year, I didn't know about tree hay used to supplement animal feed nor that grey squirrels will eat baby birds and eggs.

I'd also never heard this beautiful poem of Rudyard Kipling's set to music before but was inspired to see if it had on reading it in the midsummer entries:

This is a thoroughly recommended read and I think I might be heading off to find others of his soon.


There are no pictures of the book itself as I borrowed this one from my local library using their free Ebook service and as it is Libraries Week this week I thought they deserved a plug. Warwickshire use Borrow Box for Ebooks and Eaudio and I've found it really easy to use, wherever you are I'm sure  your local libraries will have similar services to supplement the traditional print ones as well as so much else going on so why not check it out?

(Disclaimer: I worked for Warwickshire Libraries until my diagnosis but that's by the by!)

Want to find a copy of the book?
Ebook ISBN:9781473542532
Print ISBN:9780857524584

Dancing with Bees - a journey back to nature by Brigit Strawbridge Howard

Please note this is not an unbiased review but it is an honest one!

I cannot explain the overwhelming joy I felt when receiving our copy of this through the post - Brigit is a long time friend who has known she wanted to write a book for all the years I've known her and I know that to finally have completed and published it will have created untold joy and excitement after one of the toughest times anyone can go through. Anyone who has had the privilege of hearing Brigit talk about bees will know of her infectious enthusiasm for her subjects and for the whole of the natural world and it is this voice that keeps you turning the pages getting more and more immersed in the world being conjured from the pages. Be warned though this immersion includes one of the most poignant chapters I have ever read - do not approach "The upside-down bird" without a hanky to hand, it is both a beautifully gentle and heart-rendingly sad recounting of the love for and loss of a parent that left me with tears streaming down my face but so very glad Brigit found the courage to leave it in the book.

Recounting her explorations of the natural world without pretension Brigit enables you to learn things without being preached at or feeling like you are somehow lacking. As a witness Brigit highlights the dangers of disconnection, of pesticides, of viewing nature as a purely human-centric economic resource and provides plenty of references to organisations, resources and papers for those who wish to pursue the research and follow the science as well as the emotion. As Brigit rediscovers her connection to the natural world you will find stories of close encounters with Gannets, Curlew and Corncrakes as well as elusive Moss Carder Bees and Great Yellow Bumblebees in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Further south you'll meet the delightfully named Hairy-footed Flower Bees and the elusive and artisanal Potter Wasps and join in close encounters with Hawthorn hedgerows, dandelions and a growing connection and re-connection with place and self that has left me feeling so very proud of my friend and so very happy to recommend "Dancing with bees" as an uplifting book of discovery for anyone who already loves nature or feels as if they could with just a little bit of help....

Ivy in the hedgerow - such a valuable plant for so many critters

Dancing with bees - a journey back to nature by Brigit Strawbridge Howard is published by Chelsea Green Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60358-848-5

The Gift of Beauty

Back in autumn/winter 2017 I came across a book, not unusual for a librarian and book-addict admittedly, but this wasn't just any book, this was a gift to the soul, a true work of imagination and sublime art, it arrived at a truly traumatic time in my life and over the last 2 years I'm not the only one it has spoken to and I certainly can't be the only one to draw comfort from it's pages, to revisit the words, the pictures and the whole feeling of peace that the work creates and I know I have mentioned it here previously.



Created by illustrator and artist Jackie Morris and writer Robert Macfarlane The Lost Words was a reaction to the removal of certain nature words from the 2007 Oxford children's dictionary and the effect it had on me and countless others has been palpable. It's pages conjure the fleeting beauty of bluebells, the delicate joy of wren, the majesty of raven and even the glimmer of starling and the sheer joy it gives is testament to the magic of the spells written and creatures conjured from its pages.

Since these two magicians came together their work has taken on a life of it's own spawning crowd-funder campaigns right across the country to ensure schools, hospices and care-homes have copies to share with their pupils, patients and residents and leading to new spells being created on hospital walls by Jackie and another magician of the natural world - Alison O'Toole. Jackie herself explains how that came about on her own beautiful blog but the magic hasn't stopped there. Now, new joy has been born in the form of The Spell Songs a glorious combination of musicians, wordsmiths, art and love for the natural world - they've toured and will even be doing a Prom later this month and just this week my own copy of their wonder-filled CD arrived on my doorstep. The haunting Blessing and strident Heartwood resonate around the house as I write this and will be played again and again in the weeks to come. But fret not if buying the book or CD is beyond your means right now, because they've also posted the beauty onto the 'Net - allowing it to run free for everyone to hear, watch and benefit from. Jackie has even allowed us to take a walk with her on a recent podcast from Folk on Foot, to share in the surroundings that help produce those glorious illustrations and to listen in to a bit of the magic that has sprouted from the seeds she and Robert planted. I'm not sure if their creation is what they hoped it would be but I hope they realise just how much it has meant to so many people. I hope that wherever they go and wherever they read, conjure and perform, the words "Thank You" are uttered over and over again and if you haven't yet come across the magic then click on one of the video links below and enjoy!