The Consolation of Nature: Spring in the Time of Coronavirus

ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S BEST NATURE BOOKS OF 2020

'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...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.'
-Melissa Harrison, The Times

'What joy! . . . There's acute and beautiful observation on every page, thrown into exquisite relief by the poignancy of the circumstances.'
-Isabella Tree

'An entrancing testament to nature's power to restore us to ourselves.'
-Ruth Padel

Nature took 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.