Cal Flyn - Islands of Abandonment - Deep Ink Sept/Oct 2021

Cal Flyn's incredible book 'Islands of Abandonment' has been nominated for a host of awards since featuring in our Deep Ink subscription. These went way beyond the usual Wainwright Prize, making a well-earned mark amongst the best in non-fiction by winning the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year!

Cal sets the tone from the outset with an observation that for nature writing to last at length, it needs to deal with meaty topics. And what topics she covers!

Recolonisation, pollution, psychology all work their way into Cal's world, as she travels the globe documenting what happens to the natural world when people leave the scene.

Not that she is entirely lacking in being empathetic in her examination of humanity, proposing that people from other cultures provide a new way of looking at the world and the startling theory that this too is a new way of looking at ourselves.

It is no surprise she pays homage to James Lovelock's ecological thought experiments such as his Gaia hypothesis, nor that she considers her own spirituality to be "a search for epiphany in place".

Inspiring, meaningful and filled with hope for the future thanks to the "forgiving forces out there in the world".

Buy your copy of this hope filled award winner here.