God Is an Octopus cover art

God Is an Octopus

Loss, Love and a Calling to Nature

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

God Is an Octopus

By: Ben Goldsmith
Narrated by: Simon Bubb
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents God Is An Octopus by Ben Goldsmith, read by Simon Bubb.

'Intensely readable, poetic, truthful, wise and wonderful.' STEPHEN FRY
'An extraordinary book.' SUNDAY TIMES

Struggling to comprehend the shocking death of his teenage daughter, Ben Goldsmith finds solace in nature by immersing himself in plans to rewild his farm.

In July 2019, Ben Goldsmith lost his fifteen-year-old daughter, Iris, in an accident on their family farm in Somerset. Iris’s death left her family reeling.

Grasping for answers, Ben threw himself into searching for some ongoing trace of his beloved child, exploring ideas that until then had seemed too abstract to mean much to him. Missing his daughter terribly and struggling to imagine how he would face the rest of his life in the shadow of this loss, Ben found solace in nature, the object of a lifelong fascination. As Ben set about rewilding his farm, nature became a vital source of meaning and hope.

This book is the story of a year of soul-searching that followed a terrible loss. In an instant, Ben’s world had turned dark. Yet, unbelievably to him, the seasons kept on turning, and as he immersed himself in the dramatic restoration of nature in the place where it happened, he found healing.

In God is an Octopus, Ben tells a powerful, immersive and inspiring story of finding comfort and strength in nature after suffering loss and despair.©2023 Ben Goldsmith (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Grief & Loss Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Personal Development Science Inspiring Thought-Provoking Heartfelt Feel-Good
All stars
Most relevant
Tragedy births brilliance. Should ignite a fire in everyone to become wilder in every sense of their being.

Emotive and moving

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book will stay with me … the story of a good man who has learned the essence of life through suffering and his love of the natural world …… I am inspired, as we all should be, to follow his lead in caring for and restoring our natural world.

Inspirational

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautiful lyrical book about love and loss. Thought provoking and ultimately uplifting. God is indeed an octopus.

Lyrical

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As someone who lost her husband suddenly and unexpectedly this year I was drawn to this book. My husband was a true eco warrior and so Ben’s passion for nature and his deep love of Iris and his family found a home in my heart. Highly recommend this book which delivers on so many levels .

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Too beautiful and powerful to review.
This book broke my heart, warmed my heart and fired-up my heart.
Listen and be inspired.

Listen and be inspired

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews