{"product_id":"soundings-9780349014951","title":"Soundings","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Beautiful . . . Justifies its place alongside nature writing classics such as \u003ci\u003eH is for Hawk\u003c\/i\u003e'' NEW STATESMAN\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Wonderful ... both frank and fearless'' \u003ci\u003eTELEGRAPH \u003c\/i\u003eBEST TRAVEL BOOKS OF THE YEAR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Fascinating'' \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN \u003c\/i\u003eTOP TEN NATURE MEMOIRS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Mexico to the Arctic ice, grey whale mothers swim with  their calves. Following them, by bus, train and ferry, are Doreen  and her toddler Max, in pursuit of a wild hope. Doreen first visited Alaska as a young journalist reporting on climate  change among indigenous whaling communities. There, drawn  deeply into an Iñupiaq family, she joined the bowhead whale hunt,  watching for polar bears under the never-ending light. Years later, now a single mother living in a hostel, Doreen  embarks on this extraordinary journey: following the grey whale  migration back to the Arctic, where greys and bowheads meet  at the melting apex of our planet. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''\u003ci\u003eSoundings \u003c\/i\u003egot under my \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA beautiful account of trauma, community and nature's capacity to heal, this book \u003cb\u003etakes its place alongside modern classics of the genre \u003c\/b\u003esuch as Helen Macdonald's \u003ci\u003eH is for Hawk\u003c\/i\u003e. * New Statesman, best books of 2022 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe endless wait of the whale hunt is made fascinating by her quiet observations\u003c\/b\u003e. The protagonists make a deeply refreshing triad: a single mother travelling with her child, learning from the whales how to parent -- Sarah Thomas * Guardian, Top 10 Nature Memoirs *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCompelling \u003c\/b\u003e... A human story of \u003cb\u003eresilience, loss and immense bravery \u003c\/b\u003e... \u003cb\u003eA rallying cry for love\u003c\/b\u003e * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003eA wonderful debut . . . both\u003cb\u003e frank and fearless\u003c\/b\u003e, and a plea for the whales to be allowed to live, and die, in peace * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eAn \u003cb\u003eoriginal, unexpectedly pacey blend of memoir and nature writ\u003c\/b\u003eing. Whether observing how the ceteceans are threatened by global warming, delving into the lives of the Inupiaq or sharing personal struggles, Cunningham brings a sensitivity to the page. This is a \u003cb\u003emoving\u003c\/b\u003e riposte to those who offer atomised perspectives on the natural world -- Jini Reddy * Metro *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003estriking, brave and often lyrical book\u003c\/b\u003e that defies easy interpretation . . . Her sensuous descriptions of grey whales and humpbacks provide some of the book's richest passages . . . She is no Ahab; it is not a single whale to which she is drawn, but the collective, and in the end the whales act as stepping-stones, bridges to human relationships on her journey, notably with other women and mothers. What at first seems a reckless, near-mystical pursuit of an imagined being leads her to find a human pod of her own. -- Edward Posnett * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoundings \u003c\/i\u003egot under my skin.\u003c\/b\u003e It was as if I'd joined Doreen and her young son on their search for grey whales, and we'd been through something important together. I finished it in tears * Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun and The Instant *\u003cbr\u003eDoreen's is a \u003cb\u003ethrilling, passionate and tenderhearted adventure\u003c\/b\u003e. I read this book in one sitting, and couldn't sleep that night - my mind was still filled with her extraordinary endurance, her wild spirit. * Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart has Five Openings *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat a voice! What a book!\u003c\/b\u003e Pounding with the power of thrashing flukes, shivering with Arctic ice, yet suffused with rare human warmth. A book worthy of its mighty subjects. * Charles Foster, author of Being a Human *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeautiful\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Through such delicate merging of environmental and individual trauma, \u003ci\u003eSoundings\u003c\/i\u003e births a raw, intimate narrative about nature's capacity to mend - and \u003cb\u003ejustifies its place alongside modern nature writing classics\u003c\/b\u003e, such as Helen Macdonald's \u003ci\u003eH is for Hawk\u003c\/i\u003e -- India Bourke * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eBeautiful and brave, and \u003cb\u003estartling in its raw emotional honesty\u003c\/b\u003e. * Neil Ansell, author of Deep Country and The Circling Sky *\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003cb\u003estunning book blends nature writing of the most urgent kind\u003c\/b\u003e with precise and poetic observation of human tribulation and the interconnectedness of all things. Fresh, brave and unique * Damian le Bas, author of The Stopping Places *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoundings \u003c\/i\u003estuns with its \u003cb\u003ebravery and lyricism\u003c\/b\u003e. This is a book to be devoured. * Ramita Navai, author of City of Lies *\u003cbr\u003eCunningham's scientific knowledge and gorgeous prose take us on an extraordinary journey as she forges a remarkable connection with these astonishing creatures and issues an impassioned plea for our shared futures. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoundings\u003c\/i\u003e is a completely unique, unforgettable book.\u003c\/b\u003e * Erica Wagner *\u003cbr\u003eAn \u003cb\u003eintimate and fascinating\u003c\/b\u003e story of one woman's journey with our most charismatic species * Mark Boyle, author of The Way Home *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBeautifully written, insightful and gripping\u003c\/b\u003e * Daniel Lavelle, author of Down and Out *\u003cbr\u003eIn this \u003cb\u003efascinating\u003c\/b\u003e book, Doreen Cunningham takes us on \u003cb\u003ean intimate journey\u003c\/b\u003e through a world already changed by climate change. As her own travel companions become ours - the indigenous people of Utqiagvik, the whales of the Pacific, the world's scientists and her little son Max - we learn that it is only by coming together as people and species that we will be able to navigate our way ahead in the vast troubled waters of our shared future. * Sjón, author of The Whispering Muse *\u003cbr\u003eThis book is \u003cb\u003ea gorgeous journey\u003c\/b\u003e. Cunningham guides us elegantly from Mexico to Alaska, riding along with wild grey whales. And she excels as well at bringing the reader along on her personal journey of motherhood, struggle, and epiphany. You will be glad you've joined her. * Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief *\u003cbr\u003eA raw and rapturous work of nature writing. Or is it memoir? Adventure journalism? Pop science? Climate \u003ci\u003ecri de coeur\u003c\/i\u003e? \u003cb\u003eThis\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003efoul-mouthed, gimlet-eyed, big-hearted chimera of a book\u003c\/b\u003e is all of those - and more * Robert Moor, bestselling author of On Trails: An Exploration *\u003cbr\u003eWhat a woman and what a tale! It is a rare gift to be taken on a journey by a single mother with her child and the particular perspective that offers. This is a story about living and loving at the sharp end of climate change, and learning to listen, and wait.\u003cb\u003e I loved this book. Sensitive, sincere, and heart-warming.\u003c\/b\u003e * Sarah Thomas, author of The Raven's Nest *\u003cbr\u003eCaptures rarely observed natural places ... The reader understands that reporting on climate disaster, and Cunningham's own troubles, have sent the journalist into uncomfortable turbulence. She finds an easier groove, and\u003cb\u003e readers are richer for it, in the enduring beauty and resilient wonder of the ocean\u003c\/b\u003e * San Francisco Chronicle *\u003cbr\u003eCunningham is consistently forthcoming and self-aware, and she delivers an informed perspective on climate change and ecological damage ... A gorgeous, heartfelt coda brings the narrative to a close, and we can't deny our own sympathies. \u003cb\u003eAn absorbing account that offers urgent warnings for humankind\u003c\/b\u003e * Kirkus *\u003cbr\u003eThrough her journey from Mexico to Alaska, Doreen Cunningham develops what can only be described as a spiritual relationship with the gray whales. \u003cb\u003eReaders will be further enriched by her ability to seamlessly integrate traditional Indigenous knowledge and science of the sea,\u003c\/b\u003e ice, and the world of the Iñupiat who hunt the mammoth baleen whales -- Rosita Kaaháni Worl, Ph.D., President of the Sealaska Heritage Institute\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSoundings \u003c\/i\u003eis a story of whales and people, of kinship and questing, and perhaps most of all of the connections among our human selves and across species. With \u003cb\u003ea lyrical voice and tremendous emotional honesty\u003c\/b\u003e, Doreen Cunningham defies genre and skips easy romance to bring us a cetacean journey-and a journey into the tough, transformative stuff of making community in this beautiful, harsh and changeable world -- Bathsheba Demuth, author of Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA spellbinding journey\u003c\/b\u003e of discovery told with deep sensitivity and honesty -- Dr. Edith Widder, CEO \u0026amp; Senior Scientist of the Ocean Research \u0026amp; Conservation Association\u003cbr\u003eI must say I was in awe of this book. Such \u003cb\u003ea captivating, raw and special offering to the world\u003c\/b\u003e. A lovely memoir that ranges in exploration but keeps the constant tone of gratitude and discovery on this journey we call life -- Emily Porter * Porchlight Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith a light touch and artful prose, Cunningham's primary message of compassion comes through\u003c\/b\u003e, a perspective readers are sure to respond to -- Colleen Mondor * Booklist Online *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA beautiful book\u003c\/b\u003e: a woman's search for meaning deep in the world of the whale * Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan, or the Whale *\u003cbr\u003eDoreen Cunningham captures the scope of the world, the grandeur of whales and the direct relationship between the two. We see our fragility, how short life truly is for the human animal and yet the degree of change wrought on the planet by our actions. Experiencing all this through her eyes has been \u003cb\u003ea thrill: a brave, frightening wondrous ride from a woman who not only dares question but pushes back against systems that tell her no\u003c\/b\u003e -- Ch?k?d?l? Emel?mad?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48733642555735,"sku":"9780349014951","price":17.09,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780349014951.jpg?v=1720000986","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/soundings-9780349014951","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}