His life had lost that link with nature – his reconnection with the natural world helped to make sense and move on. Charlie described to me how he preferred the word melancholy to depression in describing what he went through. No longer the leading role in his own private melodrama, but merely a minor part in nature's great epic. In a moment of despair, he found himself – somewhat damp – lying on the side of a lonely hill staring up at a leaden sky, a melancholy drizzle seeping into his bones. By reconnecting with the wildlife all around him, through learning to understand, love, and begin to move with the rhythms of the natural world outside his door, Charlie discovered nature’s powerful ability to heal.

12 Birds To Save Your Life | White Rose Book Cafe 12 Birds To Save Your Life | White Rose Book Cafe

Having studied history at the University of Edinburgh he turned away from his farming roots and spent the next 20 years reporting on business and finance from cities all over the world. It’s a connection with nature that has been loosening ever since the Industrial Revolution, Charlie suggested. He lives today at the foot of the Pewsey Downs in Wiltshire with his wife, two sons, and a field full of skylarks.We honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' continuous connection to Country, waters, skies and communities. He found that through reconnecting with the wildlife all around him, the grief that once felt insurmountable he could now overcome. We at Penguin Random House Australia acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Traditional Custodians and the first storytellers of the lands on which we live and work. Suddenly he hears the song of a single skylark - that soaring, tinkling, joyous sound - and he is transported away from the drizzle and dark thoughts.

12 Birds to Save Your Life - Penguin Books UK 12 Birds to Save Your Life - Penguin Books UK

By following Charlie's path, opening your eyes and ears to what has been there all along, you will discover how nature can set you free. It was a sudden and shocking demise for someone he loved dearly and in its aftermath, he struggled to cope. From solitary skylarks to squabbling sparrows, he explores the place of these birds in our history, culture and landscape, noting what they look like and where you’re most likely to meet them. By reconnecting with the wildlife all around him, through learning to understand, love, and begin to move with the rhythms of the natural world outside his door, Charlie discovered nature's powerful ability to heal.Through twelve characterful birds, Charlie show us that there is joy to be found in the very smallest of events – if we know where to look, and how to listen. The soaring, rolling, cascading music rippling through the air above me was like an injection of neat hope to the soul,’ Charlie remembers in the book’s opening chapter. At a time of great anxiety and uncertainty, while coping with the untimely death of his mother, Charlie Corbett realised his perspective on life was slipping.