BOOKS, RADIO AND TV
What to read and listen to, plus a Q&A.
BOOK
SKYLARKS WITH ROSIE –
A SOMERSET SPRING BY STEPHEN MOSS, SARABAND, £12.99 (HB)
Last spring was the UK’s sunniest on record, but the glorious weather coincided with the grimmest period in our history since the Second World War. To cope, many found solace in nature. Moss remarks wryly that even his three teenage children left their bedrooms and experienced some unaccustomed doses of fresh air. But was there really more wildlife about, as many of us felt, or were we just better at noticing?
This short but sweet book explores these themes, as the bestselling author watches spring unfold around his home in the Somerset Levels, from the March equinox to the June solstice.
This isn’t the first such diary of 2020’s coronavirus spring: The Consolation of Nature by Michael McCarthy, Jeremy Mynott and Peter Marren (published by Hodder & Stoughton) – also excellent – came out last year. Like those observers, Moss is struck by how “the nation fell in love with nature at a time of existential crisis”.
Exalting skylark song and orange-tip butterflies at a time of so much human suffering is a delicate balancing act for a diarist. Moss includes some political commentary and is angrier and tearier than in his many other books, yet this is no misery memoir.
It is a delight to share the company of such an upbeat wildlife guide, as he happily tramps, cycles and reminisces along the local lanes, through a patchwork of sheep and silage fields. Ironically, the family’s fox-red Labrador, Rosie, turns out to need the most encouragement to get outside.
Ben Hoare, naturalist and author