SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION
A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES, WATERSTONES AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE
A NEX BIG IDEA CLUB MUST READ

In a Polish forest a young woman befriends a boar. An Englishman sets up home with two beavers in Saskatchewan. A zoologist watches a fish make a conscious decision. Darwin finds the evidence for evolution in the backyards of pigeon fanciers. The entire population of Croatia anxiously awaits the arrival of a single stork.

Animals have shaped our lives, our land, our civilisation, and they will shape our future. Yet as our impact on the world and the animals we share it with increases, there has never been a greater urgency to understand this foundational relationship.

Beastly is the 40,000-year story of animals and humans as it has never been captured before, seen eye-to-eye and claw-to-hand through those humans who have stepped into the myriad worlds of our animal relatives. Our relationship with animals has always been paradoxical, but the greatest paradox may yet be this: diversity of life can heal ecosystems. Animals - if given the chance - could save us.

About the Author

Keggie Carew lives with her husband Jonathan in Wiltshire where they have a small nature reserve. Before writing, her career was in contemporary art. Keggie is the author of Dadland, which won the 2016 COSTA biography award, and Quicksand Tales.

keggiecarew.co.uk | @keggiec

Reviews
A dazzling examination of our contradictory attitudes towards the creatures with whom we share the planet . . . [A] fantastic, heartfelt history of human-animal relations * * Guardian * *
[A] heartfelt account of the environmental catastrophe . . . Beastly is a clarion call for the humbler notion that every bit of nature matters * * Observer * *
A positive, information-packed read about reconnecting with our wild world * * Independent * *
If you are interested in the animal kingdom; if you are interested in the past, present and future of planet Earth; if you are interested in anything at all - then this gorgeous, joyous, sobering book is for you * * Irish Times * *
Reading Beastly is a little like padding, barefoot, through a forest . . . Heartfelt * * New Statesman * *
What a wonderful and unexpected book. The very opposite of beastly: heavenly and amazing, powerful and affecting, a beloved and very fine teller of tales reminds us how small we are in the face of a nature that we neither understand nor wish to respect or, in any real sense, live with -- PHILIPPE SANDS
I fervently believe everyone should read it . . . From start to finish, it's fabulous -- JAMES HOLLAND
A brilliant and insightful selection of revealing stories about our complicated relationship with other animals, told with Carew's uniquely smart and stylish verve. A hugely enjoyable, thought-provoking book -- GAIA VINCE
Many stories linger after reading Beastly: a polyphony in which tale after tale accumulates . . . The book is exhilaratingly busy with ideas . . . A cunningly structured book * * Perspective * *
Full of necessary rage, joy and passion: BEASTLY should be mandatory reading for all humans -- CLAIRE FULLER


Awards
Short-listed for Wainwright Prize for Children's Nature & Conservation Writing 2023 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781786896902
Author Keggie Carew
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 611g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 162mm * 35mm