The Consolation of Nature: Spring in the Time of Coronavirus

by Michael McCarthy, Peter Marren, Jeremy Mynott

Nature took on a new importance for thousands of people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of hope and renewal; and furthermore, in an extraordinary conjunction, the spring of 2020 turned out to be the loveliest spring ever recorded in Britain.

Three nature writers, living like everyone else under lockdown, but walking out each day to exercise, resolved to record their experiences of the coronavirus spring, in widely contrasting parts of the country. They did so to share with others their sense of the wonder, inspiration and delight the natural world can offer, and The Consolation of Nature is the enthralling account of what they discovered by literally walking out from their front doors.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction

222 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2021

About the author

Michael McCarthy is an English writer on the environment and the natural world. He was formerly Environment Editor for the Independent and is now its Environment Columnist.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tripartite diary of the coronavirus spring kept by three veteran nature writers based in southern England (all of them familiar to me through their involvement with New Networks for Nature ). The few-page entries are grouped into chronological chapters from 21 March to 31 May. While the authors focus in these 10 weeks on their wildlife sightings – red kites, kestrels, bluebells, fungal fairy rings and much more – they also log government advice and death tolls. They achieve an ideal balance between current events and the timelessness of nature, enjoyed all the more in 2020’s unprecedented spring because of a dearth of traffic noise.

See my full review at Shiny New Books.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels like it was much longer ago, but that memory of the first lockdown being imposed in March 2020 is still vivid. We had known nothing like it and probably won’t again either, I was still going to work, as I can’t do much from home. The world changed for a lot of us at that moment.

One of the things that I noticed on my daily walk down to the river was the silence — almost no cars, no planes, and very few people around. I could hear things that the din of modern life suppresses. I wasn’t the only one to notice this, the stimulation and comfort that nature could give sparked an interest in the wilder population that I hope does not diminish.

Three authors who between them have written a substantial number of natural history books were also stuck at home. They decided to keep a diary of their time spent in lockdown and this book is the combined diary of their sightings on their daily walks as well as sober observations on the numbers of people dying from the virus.

I liked this a lot, all three authors write sensitively about the impact on society that we have come to know that the virus had. But underlying that is the realisation that this could give us an opportunity to make a difference for the wild world that is around us every day. Worth reading in my opinion.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was lovely. It is three men writing about spring in England during the lockdown. It was about the plants, birds, insects and animals which were around. It was also about the pandemic. I was not familiar with many of the plants and animals, so I was looking them up. It was important that this book was not illustrated as it helped to focus on the changes being described. This book was joyful as the spring this year was described, but there continued to be crucial references to the lock down and to death and illness.

[Rosalind · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a diary of events during the first coronavirus lockdown, written by three well-known nature writers. The period is springtime and the writers in their different locations of England chronicle the rapid changes with the acute perception of their expertise, sharpened by the extraordinarily fine weather, lack of noise and man-made interruptions. It also conveys the solace which nature provides in a time of great turmoil, with the never-ending rhythm of life. I particularly warmed to one of the last entries which described the “dusk chorus”, describing the contributions of each bird to the chorus, when they started, when they left, the fading of their songs into the sounds of the night. The other great message is the fragility of this diverse environment, already compromised and diminished by human activity. It shows how enforced lack of human activity provided a window into what had been and what might be recovered. It was really enjoyable and 4.5 were half marks permissible.

[Joe Downie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt this was a bit of a rushed pandemic cash-in, and sometimes came across as three rather privileged middle-class types muddling their way through the pandemic... It also failed to answer the question: what if nature doesn't provide consolation? What then?

[Steve Gillway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Homebound naturalists note what is on their doorstep during the lockdown of 2020.

[Rob Mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contained some delightful stories, facts and literary references to the wildlife that surrounds us. Worth a second read.