The cover of The Wild Remedy by Emma Mitchell promises that this is a ‘beautiful, beautiful book’. And it is. I found this gem of a book in a charity shop. Reading it was a joy. A very personal nature diary, it chronicles the twelve months of the British year in nature, as experienced by Emma, an illustrator from Cambridgeshire.
It’s well evidenced that time in nature is good for your mental health. Whether that’s simply a walk in your local park, mindful forest bathing, or regular cold water swims, spending time outside is good for your soul. During the long monotonous days of lockdown, getting outside helped people to cope with the anxiety and stress brought on by the pandemic, with time spent in nature a real lifeline for many of us.
The book is written in diary form, and starts in October, when the leaves are beginning to fall and the migrant thrushes arrive. Emma’s wonderful observations of the minutiae of the nature that surrounds us – whether it’s a tiny goldcrest flitting in the woods, a nightingale singing overhead, or some snake’s head fritillaries blooming in spring – reminded me of how wonderful it is to be surrounded by nature and simply notice what’s around me. My knowledge of flora and fauna isn’t as extensive as Emma’s, but I’ve resolved to improve it after reading this book and observing her joy at simply spotting a particular species of bird or a flower in bloom. She describes a murmuration of starlings;
“Tens of thousands of birds are behaving like a living liquid. My mind reels at the complexity of the mathematics and silent communication required for this astonishing behaviour… Writhing limbs of birds, coordinated by their brains’ responses to one another’s flightpaths, protrude then recede from its edge as it seems to crawl like an aerial amoeba.”
Emma’s honesty about her mental health, which suffers greatly during the winter months, means that The Wild Remedy is raw in places and difficult to read. Her mood plummets as the nights grow longer and the temperature falls, reaching its lowest point in March, often a point in the year when it can feel like the darkness and cold have gone on forever and will never end. It’s taking simple pleasure in nature that help to lift her mood, from a bird feeder that brings blue tits and sparrows to her garden and the sight of young meadowsweet leaves in the woods.
Emma’s descriptions of the wildlife she sees around her are brought to life by her drawings that appear throughout the book; pencil sketches and watercolours that reproduce in careful detail the nature that she encounters on her walks.
You can buy The Wild Remedy here, new or second hand.