Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2024
304 pages
Genre: Science, Health and the Environment
Publication Information
Full of wonder, hope, and an abiding love for the natural world, Otter Country: An Unexpected Adventure in the Natural World is a beautiful and captivating work of nature writing, pursuing one of nature's most endearing and endlessly fascinating creatures.
A plan formed in my mind. I would explore the places in this land that hid my grail. I would spend a whole year or longer, if that's what it took, wading through marshes, hiding between mossy rocks, paddling down rivers and swimming in sea lochs; recording my journey through the seasons as I searched for wild otters.
Mysterious, graceful, and ever-clever, otters have captivated our imaginations, despite the fact that few people have encountered one in the wild. In Otter Country, celebrated nature writer Miriam Darlington captures the fascination she's had for these playful animals since childhood, and chronicles her immersive journey into their watery world.
Over the course of a single year, Darlington takes readers on a winding expedition in pursuit of these elusive creatures―from her home in Devon, England, and through the wilds of Scotland, Wales, the Lake District, and the countryside of Cornwall. As she's drawn deeper into wilder habitats, trekking through changing landscapes, seasons, and weather, Darlington meets biologists, conservationists, fishing and hunting enthusiasts, and poets―enriching her understanding, admiration, and awe of the wild otter. With each encounter, she reveals the scientific, environmental, and cultural importance of this creature and the places it calls home.
"Darlington burnishes her reputation as a gifted nature writer with this vivid examination of the behavior, biology, and evolution of otters...Though Darlington's travels around Britain looking for otters in the wild proved unsuccessful, the sparkling prose ensures her account of the search never flags...[A]n entrancing look at a complex animal." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Darlington delivers another delightfully lyrical nature chronicle." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Captivating and enthralling, Otter Country is an entertaining, enlightening account loaded with fascinating insights into the marine animals." ―Foreward Reviews (starred review)
"A beautiful book full of sensuous lyricism [and] an important contribution to British writing on otters, a tradition in which this country is especially rich." ―Mark Cocker, author of Crow Country
"Otters are one of British conservation's new success stories, and this wonderful book is their anthem. The strong clear writing, fascinating research and warm personal voice make it a lovesong not only to otters but to Britain." ―Ruth Padel, author of Tigers in Red Weather
"A diary of utter devotion where landscape is interpreted as otter-text, its messages elusive but traced with deep sensitivity." ―Jay Griffiths, author of Wild: An Elemental Journey
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Miriam Darlington was born and brought up in Lewes, Sussex. She has lived in London, in France, and for five years she lived on St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly. She is now settled with her family in Devon, England. She was a school teacher until she escaped and became a writer in 2008. As well as being a full-time author, she teaches Creative Writing at Plymouth University.
Miriam's first collection of poetry, Windfall, was published in 2008. In 2009 on a fully-funded Creative and Critical PhD at Exeter University she produced Otter Country, In Search of the Wild Otter, a travel and nature memoir. A critical and contextual ecocritical study of nature writing completed her PhD in September 2013.
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