Anima cover art

Anima

A Wild Pastoral

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Anima

By: Kapka Kassabova
Narrated by: Natalie Pela
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The spellbinding new book by the prizewinning writer Kapka Kassabova tells the story of her time with the last moving pastoralists in Europe: a gripping portrayal of human-animal interdependence, and a plea for a different way of living.

Living with one of these communities over the course of one summer, Kassabova experiences the intensity, brutality, beauty and isolation of their existence. She witnesses the epic, orchestrated activity of transhumance – the seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this work and the rich histories that shaped this Balkan region, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of the small community.

Anima is an extraordinary portrayal of pastoral life, where humans and animals exist in profound interdependence. Kassabova conjures the spirit of this remarkable place with intimacy and empathy, and helps us imagine how we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world.

© Kapka Kassabova 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

 Animals Anthropology Biological Sciences Ecosystems & Habitats Europe Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science

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Critic reviews

A book that mesmerises with its sense of adventure and epic sweep, this is creative nonfiction at its best.
A haunting, beautiful book from what feels a darkly enchanted land. Kassabova is an extraordinary writer who slips into the skin of a place. Fiercely intelligent, scalpel-sharp, at once romantic and toughly pragmatic: Anima will live with me for a long time (Cal Flyn, author of ISLANDS OF ABANDONMENT)
Anima is a masterwork and a profound and important book. Kassabova is writing about how we forgot the land and our animals and banished many tribes. In doing so, we lost our soul. Anima is a treasure of nature writing and people writing, a classic in the making for our times (Monique Roffey, author of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH)
[Kassabova is] iron-hard and courageous, both on the page and in life... Roaming across the high pastures, Kassabova sees all our lives with clarity
Anima is what happens when an extraordinary writer and dauntless explorer discovers a wild and ancient way of life still, somehow, surviving in Europe's remotest wilderness. This is a beautiful book of passion and adventure. It asks: who are we, what have we done and how shall we live? Kapka Kassabova stops at nothing, including risking her life, on her quest to see deeply, live fully, to learn, and teach, constantly. She is simply sublime (Horatio Clare, author of HEAVY LIGHT)
Kapka Kassabova’s new book is an extraordinary work of exploration, both inner and outer. It should be required reading for everyone thinking about our human environment: which is to say, all of us. (Fiona Sampson)
The poet laureate of the margins... "Must I squeeze my experiences into such a small space when they are so much larger?" This question suffuses Kassabova's incandescent book, and she poses it relentlessly, in spare, hard prose - prose worthy of the rock and the raven (Charles Foster)
Kapka Kassabova has written a series of fascinating, idiosyncratic, often poetic non-fiction books which deal with issues of place, culture and identity… Her goal is to find some solutions to mankind’s broken relationship with nature. That’s a marker of her ambition as a writer. And her writing is worthy of it
At once a dirge and a praise song for pastoralism... At turns muscular, tender, and sublime, this book is one of the finest testimonies for saving the earth, and our humanity, that I've ever read. It is unforgettable (Imani Perry, author of SOUTH TO AMERICA)
All stars
Most relevant
KK is one of my favourite authors, I found this a magical yet melancholic book on a way of live that is rapidly and sadly disappearing. Having visited these areas it was easy to picture the geographical struggles that the pastoralists face but their own battles are what made this book so real. The performance is strong and I highly recommend this audiobook. I didn't want it to end.

Beautifully written and read.

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