Hidden Nature: A Voyage of Discovery Hardcover – 14 Jul 2016

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Review ------ "I felt as if I'd paddled into a new country." The gardening author and Guardian columnist with a distinctive memoir in which she forsakes her garden and takes to paddling Birmingham's little-used canal network in an inflatable kayak. The time and space she allows herself for nature observation--kingfishers, waterlilies, pikes, freshwater mussels and blackberries are all beautifully reflected on--is mirrored by her exploration of her internal self, particularly in the light of leaving her marriage and coming out as gay. An enchanting book which somehow manages to be both gutsy and delightfully soothing. (The Bookseller) In the beautiful memoir Hidden Nature: A Voyage of Discovery, TV gardener Alys Fowler steers a barge around Birmingham's waterways, noting the s and realising, after 12 years as wife and carer to her husband, that she has fallen in love with a woman. (Good Housekeeping) This candid book is as much about ping the heart as it is about ping the paths of waterways. Lovely. (Simple Things) She writes wonderfully about the species that have carved out a place for themselves amid the dided shopping trolleys, condom packets and industrial waste (Guardian) Gentle, brave and acutely observant (Woman's Weekly) Hidden Nature is one of the most thrilling things I've read in a long time. (Waterways World) Thoughtful and heartbreakingly honest ...Beautiful. (Press Association) Fowler captures the beauty of the canal's dishevelled, neglected condition... (Times Literary Supplement) 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 (Countryfile Magazine) Fowler beautifully exposes her emotional fragility while also celebrating the unloved nature of buddleia, herons and even the water rats who take refuge among the locks. (i paper) Book Description ---------------- A beautifully written exploration of life and urban nature from writer and gardener Alys Fowler.