Otter Country

Over the course of a year, Miriam Darlington travelled around Britain in search of wild otters, from her home in Devon to the wilds of Scotland, to a sanctuary in Suffolk credited with saving British otters from extinction, to Cumbria, Wales, Northumberland, Cornwall, Somerset and the River Lea, to her childhood home near the Ouse, site of Virginia Woolf's drowning, and the source of her watery obsession. Otter Country follows Darlington's search through different landscapes, seasons, weather and light, as she tracked one of Britain's most elusive animals. During her journey, she met otter experts, representatives of the Environment Agency, conservationists, ecologists, walkers, Henry Williamson's family, Gavin Maxwell's heir, zoo keepers, fishermen, scientists, hunters and poets. Above all she learnt how to track and be around otters, and that the stillness required to actually see this shy animal can bring many unasked-for wonders. Written in mesmerising, magical prose, Otter Country will establish Darlington as a prominent voice in the new generation of British nature writers.