Belonging cover art

Belonging

Natural Histories of Place, Identity and Home

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About this listen

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2023

LONGLISTED FOR THE HIGHLAND BOOK PRIZE 2022

Reflecting on family, identity and nature, Belonging is a personal memoir about what it is to have and make a home. It is a love letter to nature, especially the northern landscapes of Scotland and the Scots pinewoods of Abernethy - home to standing dead trees known as snags, which support the overall health of the forest.

Belonging is a book about how we are held in thrall to elements of our past. It speaks to the importance of attention and reflection, and will encourage us all to look and observe and ask questions of ourselves.

Beautifully written it explores how place, language and family shape us and make us who we are.

©2022 Amanda Thomson (P)2022 Canongate Books Biological Sciences Botany & Plants Ecology Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Scotland

Critic reviews

Praise for A Scots Dictionary of Nature: So good (ROBERT MACFARLANE)
All stars
Most relevant
A fascinating and original memoir and evocation of the natural world. The narrator was disappointing - I would have liked to hear it in the author’s own voice.

Beguiling

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Just a fantastic book by Amanda Thomson, author of The Scots Dictionary of Nature. A personal memoir and a loving letter to nature, family and identity. This is a beautifully reflective book and makes me want to sit in nature and take stock. It has come to me when I am also thinking about what makes my home. I'm so grateful for these words.
I absolutely love the Scots definitions related to weather and seasons at the start of each chapter.


Lois Chimimba is a delightful narrator, the words are alive in her (but I wish she hadn't continued to mis-pronounced Norman MacCaig's name throughout)

Layer upon layer of belonging explored

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A beautiful ode to Scotland, it’s natural history and vocabulary, given a fresh perspective by an author of colour.

An Ode to Scotland

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