The Stubborn Light of Things, Melissa Harrison
A Londoner for over twenty years, moving from flat to Tube to air-conditioned office, Melissa Harrison knew what it was to be insulated from the seasons. Adopting a dog and going on daily walks helped reconnect her with the cycle of the year and the quiet richness of nature all around her: swifts nesting in a nearby church; ivy-leaved toadflax growing out of brick walls; the first blackbird's song; an exhilarating glimpse of a hobby over Tooting Common.
Moving from scrappy city verges to ancient, rural Suffolk, where Harrison eventually relocates, this diary - compiled from her beloved Nature Notebook column in The Times - maps her joyful engagement with the natural world and demonstrates how we must first learn to see, and then act to preserve, the beauty we have on our doorsteps - no matter where we live.
A perceptive and powerful call-to-arms written in mesmerising prose, The Stubborn Light of Things confirms Harrison as a central voice in British nature writing.
About the author
Melissa Harrison is a novelist and nature writer who lives in Suffolk. Her novel, All Among the Barley (a Wild Read in 2021), was the UK winner of the European Union Prize for Literature and a Waterstones Paperback of the Year.
Following on from her critically acclaimed 2020 podcast of the same name, The Stubborn Light of Things was Longlisted for the Wainwright Prize and voted East Anglian Book of the Year 2021.
Melissa Harrison
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Wild Reads is a partnership project between Suffolk Libraries and Suffolk Wildlife Trust to promote our connection between the natural world and the written word.
Wild Reads aims to give everyone the opportunity to enjoy the very best nature writing. The aim is to help inspire and ignite a love of nature in readers through the lenses of a wide variety of writers.
Visit Suffolk Libraries website here for the full Wild Reads booklist.
A window to wildlife - discover local landscapes with Suffolk Wildlife Trust
Feeling inspired by The Stubborn Light of Things? Well, why not discover some of the best natural landscapes Suffolk has to offer? From ancient woods to windswept marshes, Suffolk Wildlife Trust's nature reserves are as varied as the animals and plants that live in them. These wild places are special, and in winter may well come with lashings of mud!
