I unashamedly love Melissa Harrison’s writing. I’ve read everything she’s written, and was not disappointed with this book.

It’s essentially a collection of her Times nature columns, but unedited and unabridged. Chronological, and by default thus separated into city / country living, it’s a great view of nature from both perspectives. It can feel a little ‘jumpy’ at times as they’re effectively diary entries in their own right, but that also makes it perfect to dip in and out of.

Personal opinion, facts, and shared knowledge make this a gentle, absorbing read, and will make you yearn for the outdoors.

An enchanting meander through the English countryside and urban parkland, reminding us to observe and protect the living world around us and to breathe it all in.

"I've never seen anywhere with as many snowdrops as this village. There are crowds of them in the copses, massed chairs in the churchyard, pious vistas glimpsed through sparse winter hedges and congregations lining the margins of the carnser. ‘Spring will come,’ they whisper to me quietly as dull winter drags on and on. ‘Have faith.’"

A beautiful, gentle, necessary book, offering a desperate, heartening look into the natural world that we often miss because of our busy, insular modern lives.

Melissa Harrison's writing is subtle, skilful, and accessible, and her style is well-suited to audiobooks. (Of course, this will come as no surprise to anyone who's listened to her podcast of the same name, which was described by many as a "saviour" during lockdown.) I found her voice as cheerful and light as her prose, and I floated—trance-like and comforted—through six hours of her delightful, balmy musings.

Something I particularly appreciated about The Stubborn Light of Things was Harrison's adeptness at making the future seem so painfully hopeful. Throughout, she scatters little reminders of the harm we're doing to the wildlife around us—the passage about the birds she took pleasure in seeing yearly, like clockwork, suddenly finding themselves without a home because of uncaring developers enraged me—but she nearly always follows these moments up with stories of regular people and organisations trying desperately to enact positive change, and how they do occasional succeed, despite all the odds. They fight because they are inspired to believe in a better, cleaner, kinder world, and anyone can do it. All it takes is enough people to care about something that doesn't impact them immediately, but innocent creatures and ecosystems that can't advocate for themselves, and suddenly a little patch of the world is improved. I think it's such a lovely idea, and a powerful one, too.

A section that really stood out to me, one that I just can't stop thinking about days later, is when Harrison talks about those brief, all too common moments when we're out in nature and come across an animal, and instead of it going about its buisness as usual, it chooses instead to flee from us. How much must the sounds of panic cut our souls to pieces every time it happens? We've lost our ability to go back where we started, and we've almost been rejected by the world outside our brick and mortor dwellings. I sometimes think it's what has left us so lost, and callous, and broken up inside. It's also why we get so excited during those glorious, shining moments when these same beings choose to trust us—when a deer stops in its tracks to look at you not out of paralysing fear, but because it's curious; when a squirrel or bird takes food directly out of your hands and lingers; or when a baby duck trundles up to the edge of a pond and calls to you. It's like coming home, isn't it?

Overall, The Stubborn Light of Things has inspired me to take note of, and enjoy, the luminous and vulnerable world around me, but also to be angry that this isn't the world my great-grandparents, or even my parents, inherited. There are fewer insects, fewer birds, fewer trees—fewer everything, except pollution. And that's not okay, and I will not pretend that it's normal, just because it's easier. The natural world deserves better than the way the wealthy, powerful, and corrupt treat it, and we deserve better, too. I'm grateful, endlessly, that Harrison's reminded me of that fact, and helped me see it all a little bit clearer, too.

Nature writer Melissa Harrison moved from London to rural Suffolk with her adopted dog and this book chronicles some of her nature observations and experiences from 2014 to 2020 in both locations. In London she appreciated enormous parks, nature reserves and hundreds of bird species and many animals. As wonderful as that was, Suffolk had even more in store, layer upon layer of nature. Wild nature.

There is so much to say about this gorgeously written book! As a forager and nature person I crave...NEED...nature and must be immersed as much as possible. Like the author, when moving house the most crucial aspect to me is not the house but its proximity to nature. Her descriptions are breathtaking and riveting, wondrously introspective. She engages all senses and invites readers to do the same.

You will read about red kites, witch hazel, voles, numerous flowers, hedgehogs, nightengales, ladybirds, bees, moths, swifts, ivy, blackberries, oak, hedgerows, insects and so many more. Not only that but the author discusses the effects of weather, climate, pesticides and traffic. But this journal is far more. It encourages us to really, really watch and listen and engage, even in little plots in cities. We can learn about habitats and diets of birds, for example, or identify wildflowers.

This book really resonated with me as this past spring and summer due to covid plans changed with travel bans. So, I took up bird watching in earnest which led to improving my photography. As pointed out, we sometimes take information we grew up with for granted but what we can glean is unbelievably rewarding.

The book reads like a feast. It is gentle and lovely. If you are at all interested in nature...or wish to be...allow this to be your inspiration. You cannot do better.

My sincere thank you to Faber and Faber Ltd. for providing me with an ARC of this deeply compelling book in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated.

I had stupidly not realised this would essentially be a series of country diary style entries. If you like that sort of thing this seems a good example. I prefer a bit more history / geography in the mix versus the nature elements

Having read novels by Melissa Harrison, I knew she was an excellent writer of fiction and included many descriptions of the natural world so I thought it would be interesting to read her nature diary ‘The Stubborn Light ofThings’.
The author spends her time in London and Suffolk and with passion she writes about the wonders of nature that are all around us in cities and the countryside. This exquisitely written book both entertains and informs with information on the decline of flora and fauna and highlights how we need to protect and improve our green spaces for our own well being as well as the planets.
The Stubborn Light of Things is an excellent book which is a joy to read in these troubled times. Highly recommended.

I loved this. A series of Harrison's pieces from her journalistic work, this documents her thoughts and feelings about nature both urban and rural. It's diaristic in nature but despite covering a couple of years the material is always fresh and interesting. I particularly loved that she champions positive progress in conservation, highlighting the changes people are making in their thinking and actions as well as documenting the bad news too. I was particularly fascinated by the section set in London and the sheer amount of biodiversity there is in the city. It was lovely to read.