The Consolation of Nature
Spring in the Time of Coronavirus
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The Consolation of Nature
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Boxer
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David Shaw Parker
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Charles Armstrong
About this listen
Nature took on a new importance for thousands of people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of hope and renewal, and furthermore, in an extraordinary conjunction, the spring of 2020 turned out to be the loveliest spring ever recorded in Britain.
Three nature writers, living like everyone else under lockdown, but walking out each day to exercise, resolved to record their experiences of the coronavirus spring, in widely contrasting parts of the country. They did so to share with others their sense of the wonder, inspiration and delight the natural world can offer, and The Consolation of Nature is the enthralling account of what they discovered by literally walking out from their front doors.
©2020 Michael McCarthy, Jeremy Mynott, Peter Marren (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedCritic Reviews
"A significant and beautifully written historical record of a unique English spring." (Adam Gretton)
"As our lives constrict again, the long spring lockdown already seems a lifetime ago. But that beautiful and frightening time has been perfectly captured in The Consolation of Nature by the naturalists Michael McCarthy, Jeremy Mynott and Peter Marren. Each reports from their home patches - Richmond, West Suffolk and North Wessex, respectively - to describe the progress of a record-breakingly sunny spring as human activity slowed and stilled. As a set of nature diaries it's lovely: full of fascinating detail and anecdote. But the undertow of the virus moving in real time beneath its sunlit surface gives it a unique emotional heft. When we emerge from this crisis our relationship with the natural world must change. This book surely is a record of the beginnings of that shift." (Melissa Harrison)
"A powerful and moving reflection on the solace brought by nature and its power as a balm for stressed-out lives." (Caroline Lucas, MP)