Ben Hoare * BBC Countryfile * [Goldsmith’s] personal experiences and thoughts feel vividly real to the reader .

Now, through the success of a captive breeding program, the population on the island of Española has been brought up past 3,000, from a low of just 14 in the 1960s. British naturalists and rewilding buffs may be aware of much of the ecological ground Goldsmith covers. Access to the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts, including exclusive series. A beautiful book, and a true tribute to the spirit of Iris, which I shall hold with me for some time.

The festival was everything I hoped for, and the conversation between these two amazing rewilders was thoughtful and inspiring. Audrey Ward * The Sunday Times * Ben chronicles the unfathomable tragedy of his daughter’s death with the profound love and compassion of a bereft parent. What Ben experienced is a parents worst nightmare and it's hard to imagine how you could continue with life after. Most beautiful of all, perhaps, is the almost magical yet very real resurgence of wildlife on the family farm.

Of course, many Indigenous people and spiritual leaders the world over have known that nature is the great healer for millennia, effortlessly weaving concepts of reincarnation, death-following-life and Samsara into the fabric of storytelling. The devastation of the Scottish highlands in the pursuit of game hunting and grouse shooting is clearly described, as well as the poisoning of the landscape by short sighted farming practices. I have learnt so much about the ‘nature-of-all-things’ and the spiritual hope that is open to all of us, and I have been utterly moved forever after reading Ben’s beautiful and eloquently written story, both deeply sad and uplifting, it is admirable that such a book now exists. A compelling journey from the very heart of loss to the sanctuary and hope that only the natural world provides - emotive, raw and captivating. The audiobook reflects Rhonda’s own journey and shares the most direct way out for those experiencing hardship and the path to end pain and suffering endured by so many, and it shines a light on a future without anxiety or fear.Reading this book enhanced my connections with nature and I have been wandering around my garden looking at it differently since. And I recognised his frustration as in the following section: ‘Oh, you’re terribly keen on nature, aren’t you? On the one hand I was thinking gosh, Ben Goldsmith is so wealthy, what could he possibly have to say that might connect to my life - with his enormous privilege.

Throughout the first half of the book Goldsmith talks candidly of daughter Iris and how much her death has impacted on him and his family. We dismiss pro-rewilding poll results over and over again, making the excuse that the majority of rewilding supporters live in cities.For me it completely changed my perceptions of the book and it became more of a power trip rather than a memoir. So now he has become one of those people who others go to for guidance, his book offering a meandering pathway through the thickets of grief. The catalyst for his transformation may have been abhorrent, but in the aftermath of Covid, and at the doorstep of the third global recession of my lifetime, I hope we will follow Goldsmith’s example and step up with a newfound sense of urgency and purpose to reforge the soul of our society and reverse the decline of our natural world. The fig tree is there, too, when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, when the teenagers vanish.