The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn

THE WILD SILENCE by Raynor Winn (The Salt Path) has been my “go to” book for the last few days – any spare minute and I am joining Ray and her husband, Moth, on their adventures. I would definitely recommend reading The Salt Path first – that award-winning title tells the story of Moth’s serious medical diagnosis and the almost simultaneous loss of their farm, resulting in a 630 mile trek along England’s South West Coast Path from Somerset, through Devon and Cornwall, to Dorset. In this new memoir, Winn shares the struggle of her mother’s death, provides some back story about The Salt Path’s publication, and recounts their efforts to rewild a farm and travel yet another walk in Iceland. Her nature writing is exquisite and, despite all of their hardships, the hopeful perspective shines through again: “Don’t ‘be careful on the stairs,’ run up them, run as fast as you can, with no fear of clocks ticking and or time passing. Nothing can be measured in time, only change, and change is always within our grasp, always simply a matter of choice.” THE WILD SILENCE received a starred review from Kirkus.  Highly recommended in tandem with The Salt Path.