A moving and intimate portrait of nature during the lockdown spring of 2020 - the first book to document the environmental impact of this world-historical event.
Nature took on on a new importance for many people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of light, growth, rebirth and renewal.
Three writers, close friends but living in widely separated, contrasting parts of the country, resolved to record their experiences of this extraordinary spring in intimate detail, to share with others their sense of the wonder, inspiration and delight the natural world can offer.
The Consolation of Nature is the story of what they discovered by literally walking out from their front doors.
The joy of The Consolation of Nature is the privileged glimpse into the minds of really good naturalists - and they are admirably good. There is much written about nature and about its importance to humanity, and no lack of earnest rhetoric, but to see into the intimate and personal chambers of the minds of people who love nature, who live and breathe it, who cherish it and who find it an endless source of wonder, this is the delight of this book. There are no great messages, no edicts, no cajoling of our consciences, this is simply the everyday joy that the natural world provides at a time when we need it the most. I loved savouring it, small sections at a time, the reading equivalent of a slice of cake with tea - something to look forward to and enjoy for no other reason than it is a treat. That is not to say it is without wisdom, there is so much understated wisdom on every page, but it is for the reader to find and absorb for themselves and to ponder in a gentle way, like turning over a leaf and finding butterfly eggs, or suddenly spotting a buzzard high over London. J B Haldane was right when he said the world will not perish for lack of wonders but lack of wonder. This is a book that infuses the reader with wonder on every page.
