HIDDEN NATURE

ALYS FOWLER HODDER & STOUGHTON, £20, HB

Alys Fowler might be a horticultural ‘star’ but she is compelled to run away from everything: her work; her husband, who has cystic fibrosis; even her garden. And she doesn’t know why.

Hidden Nature is about two journeys. It begins with the 37-year-old’s eccentric decision to get away from it all, by spending a season exploring the canals of Birmingham in an inflatable canoe.

The adventure on the water starts badly as Fowler struggles to steer her wobbly new craft. And it’s clear that she too feels rudderless and out of control.

Her summer on the water reveals hidden wonders in the industrial wastelands of her home city that border the canals – herons, pike, giant eels, secret islands and forgotten tunnels as black and long as the night.

But as the author becomes more daring in her forays into the West Midland Waterways, the reader is drawn deeper into her parallel voyage of personal change. Late in life, Fowler realises that she is gay, and has accidentally fallen in love with a woman. After 14 years in a straight marriage, this hits her as hard as an oar to the face.

While her vivid portrayal of the fallout feels a little hysterical at times, the author’s prose shines when describing the natural world that remains her first love. She paints a glorious picture of the botanical delights of these abandoned edge lands, backed up by her encyclopedic horticultural vocabulary and more than a little humour.

A story that seemed a little flat at the outset blossoms into an emotional and compelling memoir, that left me inspired, both by her bravery in transforming her life, and by the unexpected beauty she finds along the way. Rosee Woodland