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The Wilderness Cure

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The Wilderness Cure

By: Mo Wilde
Narrated by: Mo Wilde
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About this listen

Winner of the John Avery Award at the André Simon Awards 2022

'This special and magical book has changed the way I see the world' Dan Saladino

'Inspiration and delight sparkle from every page … This book [is] a revelation of joy to the general reader for whom wild food is another country'John Wright, author of the River Cottage handbooks

A captivating and lyrical journey into our ancestral past, through what and how we eat.

Mo Wilde made a quiet but radical pledge: to live only off free, foraged food for an entire year. In a world disconnected from its roots, eating wild food is both culinary and healing, social and political. Ultimately, it is an act of love and community. Using her expert knowledge of botany and mycology, Mo follows the seasons to find nutritious food from hundreds of species of plants, fungi and seaweeds, and in the process learns not just how to survive, but how to thrive. Nourishing her body and mind deepens her connection with the earth – a connection that we have become estranged from but which we all, deep down, hunger for.

This hunger is about much more than food. It is about accepting and understanding our place in a natural network that is both staggeringly complex and beautifully simple. THE WILDERNESS CURE is a diary of a wild experiment; a timely and inspiring memoir which explores a deeper relationship between humans and nature, and reminds us of the important lost lessons from our past.
Environmentalists & Naturalists Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Professionals & Academics Science Natural History Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Culinary Adventures

Critic reviews

“The Wilderness Cure, her diary of the year, is many things: an unpreachy manifesto, a recipe book, a celebration of friendship, a passionate love song to the wild, a textbook of empathy, a cabinet of ecological curiosities, a masterclass in how to tread softly, a survival guide, a journal of quiet epiphanies, a primer on the art of relationship, a meditation on the significance of mycelial networks, a map of the collective unconscious, an impeccably researched account of many of the medical perils of modernity, an inquiry into the healing power of the natural world and an evolving reflection on what it means to be a human…



The Wilderness Cure is a triumph: brave, candid, kind, heartbroken by our stupidity and rapacity, suffused with the pain of bereavement at our loss of relationship with the non-human world, but suffused too with hope. For there is a way back. We’d better find it soon.”
'This special and magical book has changed the way I see the world' (Dan Saladino)
'With the seductively readable style that comes only from the light poetism of wisdom and knowledge speaking from the heart, Monica Wilde relates the story of a year eating nothing but wild food. The result is a masterly work of information and erudition, one from which I am still buzzing with the pleasure of its reading.' (John Wright, author of the Forager’s Calendar)
'Mo Wilde’s story of foraging for food and medicine is an inspiration to us all. She brings home the need so many of us have for the wild redeemer as a part of our diet and our lives.' (Stephen Harrod Buhner, author of the bestselling Herbal Antibiotics and Earth Grief: The Journey Into and Through Ecological Loss)
'Fascinating, inspiring, brave and beautifully written - all is not lost.' (Gill Meller, author of Outside: Recipes for a Wilder Way of Eating)
'Mo Wilde has retraced [our ancestors] steps. … A delightfully humble, funny and wise guide, [Mo] leaves tentative footprints for us to follow. Perhaps if we do that, we can all make it home in time.' (Miles Irving, author of the Forager Handbook, Ebury press, and host of the World Wild podcast)
'Mo Wilde’s year is an inspiration. What an incredible woman and an even more impressive book.' (Cat Thomson, The Scotsman food and drink writer)
'This book is utterly fascinating, and written in a wildly refreshing manner. Though embarking on such a wholesome journey, Mo doesn’t sugar-coat the difficulties however, she also celebrates the many positive sides, [offering] advice on how we could better live, without ever preaching.' (Michael Perry, ‘The Plant Geek’, Garden Media Guild award winner and author of Hortus Curious)
'The person who returns [from this journey] is not the same. Something else has returned with her, something that now lives in the world and is food for the soul’s journey.' (Julie McIntyre, author of The Confluence of Gaia, Plant Medicine and the Human Soul)
All stars
Most relevant
Fascinating and inspirational book, beautifully read by Monica. Not only a personal diary of living through a year of eating wild food, but a love letter to the Earth and why we must cherish our land and seas. I am motivated to eat seasonally now and realised how little I had previously understood about what seasonal eating really means. A must read

Life changing

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This is a great story of knowledge of foraging, connection and incredible fortitude. Very inspiring, a great listen and wonderful.

A wonderful book

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I really enjoyed listening to Mo Wilde's amazing story. Being new to foraging and starting out on my own botanical adventure, Mo has both captivated and given me courage to keep learning and exploring. Thank you

organic

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I have to say, if I was reading it, I may not have finished it so I'm very glad it's in audiobook! this is because I am not a forager and have no idea of the plants she was talking about, but I think she balanced it well with her experience, her knowledge and her passion. her voice is wonderful, her writing just a joy, and her calm demeanor, her love and respect for nature emanates through... in a fast paced stressful world this is the perfect book to find out what's possible in the chaos of life

wow...just loved this audio book

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Easy to listen to, lots of interesting facts. I'm away to try Ladies Mantle

Wonderful

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