The Magic of Wild Things

THE MAGIC OF WILD THINGS by Julie Armstrong.Part folk-poem, part eco-mystery, The Magic of Wild Things rewilds our language of loss with words of promise for better times to come. It is a bewitching tale, one that stirs our senses, calling us back to kinship with the natural world and non-human creatures, honouring the interconnections of all life. Guided by visions of her wise-woman mother, half-remembered stories, dreams and desires, May cuts free from her claustrophobic life in the Wasteland to journey with Jack and their daughter, Bel, into the wild. They find themselves in a small, stone cottage near the forest and Seven Stars Hills. Has May lived here before in an Otherworld? For three years the cottage brings sanctuary. Here they discover a new relationship to each other and to the natural world of which they're part, living in harmony with the wild life, landscape and the turning of the seasons. Each day is full of delight and wonder. Until a magpie delivers a brutal warning. Slowly, as the developers gather round, peace is shattered and a gradual slaughter begins. May sickens as their haven is threatened by axe and chainsaw; roots and branches are severed and fever is rife.The Magic of Wild Things is the story May speaks for Bel. It is an old tale for present times of love between human and non-human kind. It is about finding your way back and forward to the place you need to be. It is about community. And what happens when a woman is driven mad with grief for the natural world ravaged before her eyes. It is about solasalgia, the distress caused by environmental vandalism and consequent loss. A story of wise-women and the energy they bring to transcend devastation, it is, above all, about hope in the face of destruction.May is sometimes witch, sometimes faery, sometimes vixen, but always Eco-warrior. Her passion thrums with the rhythms of the Earth. Sensuous and seductive, she intuitively follows the pulse beats that drive her on and entwine her being. A haunting tale for our time, one of enchantment, charms and spells. We face a biodiversity crisis and May knows we stand on the brink of extinction. Globally, a million species are at risk. Yet, May, her mother and daughter are story tellers, finding the words to show us our place in this crisis, how to re-think our futures and the future of our planet.