In 1956 he travelled through Iraq with the explorer Wilfred Thesiger, later publishing A Reed Shaken By The Wind (1959), hailed as one of the finest works on Arabian travel. He was born in Scotland in 1914 to Lieutenant-Colonel Aymer Maxwell and Lady Mary Percy, whose father was the seventh Duke of Northumberland. First published in 1994 in hardcover by HarperCollins (in small numbers) under the title: "Gavin Maxwell".

As an 8th grader, I remembered the otters and their different personalities, of course, and descriptions of the migrations of the elvers (eel larvae) from the sea.A 1970s film about him lacked even the courtesy of referring to Raine by name, describing her and crediting the actress who played her simply as ‘the rowan tree woman’. At a chemical level, these are contained inside compounds that are absorbed into the body and essential energy-containing molecules are extracted, so that energy can be transformed into other chemical processes that use the energy for living. For a while the only version in print was an abridged amalgamation of Ring of Bright Water and its two sequels; The Rocks Remain, and Raven Seek Thy Brother, it’s not a format that appeals to me so I was delighted to find Ring not only back in print, but in such a handsome form. I am convinced that man has suffered in his separation from the soil and from the other living creatures of the world; the evolution of his intellect has outrun his needs as an animal, and as yet he must still, for security, look long at some portion of the earth as it was before he tampered with it.

But the deaths of the animals in Maxwell’s care, and the way in which he coveted them as pets, is also at odds with our modern attitude to wild creatures. The house at Sandaig was destroyed by fire in 1968, and Maxwell moved into a former lighthouse keeper's cottage on the nearby island of Eilean Bàn.As an aside, I also read another significant book in my 8th grade year: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and he came to visit our school. In the post-Savile era, an air of unease hangs over aspects of Maxwell’s life; while in Sandaig he hired two adolescent assistants – Terry Nutkins (who went on to become a well-known TV naturalist) and Jimmy Watt – to help look after the otters. Maxwell, having been influenced by the society in which he grew up, perceived each wild creature from the perspective of its impact upon his economic interests. He raised Mijbil at Camusfeàrna (the name Maxwell gave his house at Sandaig near Glenelg), on the west coast of Scotland.

I believe that the book was the first significant nonfiction book I had read that demonstrated to me what nature writing was. Her first novel was Ellen and Arbor (2020) and her second will be The Rowan Tree, inspired by the true story of the ‘some-requited’ love between poet Kathleen Raine and author-naturalist Gavin Maxwell, forthcoming in 2023. Dan Boothby had been drifting for more than twenty years, looking for but never finding the perfect place to land. His arrogance and naivety is astounding at times and in direct contrast to the persona he tries to put across. The book's title was taken from a poem by Kathleen Raine, [4] who claimed in her autobiography that Maxwell had been the love of her life.To me there is always something a little stifling in this enveloping green stain, this redundant, almost Victorian drapery over bones that need no blanketing, and were it not for the astringent presence of the sea I should find all that verdure as enervating as an Oxford water-meadow in the depths of summer. Divorced and living apart from her two children as she strove against the odds to carve out a career as a woman poet in London, Raine’s deeply felt creative vision was finally beginning to bear fruit. I don't read much new nature writing, I liked Badgerlands (Granta, 2013) by Patrick Barkham, and Esther Woolfson’s Corvus (Granta, 2008) – but then I like badgers and the crow family.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Maxwell himself, and the characters that come into and out of the pages (human and non-human) are brought vividly to life through their triumphs and through their failings.But first, I have on some occasions mentioned that to understand the role of nature and the rigours of ecosystems How ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other animals) can persist and live alongside each other for the longest time possible. Minor issues present such as mild cracking, inscriptions, inserts, light foxing, tanning and thumb marking. I recommend that you don't watch the film first though, because it's not great and may put you off the book.