3.5 out of 5 stars
Venturing out for a walk in mid-spring is a delight, gone are the drab stark colours of winter, instead, all our senses are assailed by life springing forth after its dormant period. Perennial plants that come back every year, such as celandine, cowslips and bluebells can lift our spirits and remind us that regardless of what is going on in the world, the seasonal change will still happen regardless.
In this collection of nature writing Evans has spilt them into five sections, Yellow, White, Pink Blue and Brown. The grouping reflects the way that the seasons change, the increasing light of spring moves to the intensity of summer before the light retreats in autumn and winter. He writes about various plants in each section, from the Lesser Celandine in the first part, toothwort in the white section, sanfoin for summer and harebell and black knapweed in the later parts of the book.
All the stories were drawn up by the grass and trees and midsummer spaces rolling over the Edge; drawn up in a dreaminess of bees in the wild thyme of Natures telling.
These short essays vary in length from a few sentences to a couple of pages at most. They can be dipped into at random and feel like experimental writing at times as Evans explores our relationship with plants and the places that they grow. As with all of his other books that I have read, he has a poetic style of writing that I like, but every now and again the essays did feel a little random. It is a nicely produced, as all the Monograph books are and I thought that the illustrations by Kurt Jackson were stunning.
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