The Horizontal Oak
£11.00
Scotland’s much-loved wildlife writer knows the red squirrel on a uniquely personal level having hand-reared numerous kits. Here she reveals the squirrel’s history and natural history and shares entertaining anecdotes and personal experiences. This is also the story of her dedicated rehabilitation work not only with squirrels but also a wealth of other wildlife and documents an inspirational rewilding project on her small Perthshire farm. Polly also explores many of the wildlife conflicts that face us, and highlights vital ways in which we can nurture the wild as never before in this thought-provoking and delightful book.
Description
Ever since her pet sheep Lulu accompanied her to school at the age of seven, animals and nature have been at the heart of Polly Pullar’s world. But an otherwise idyllic childhood spent in the spectacular Scottish West Highlands was marred by family secrets which ultimately turned to tragedy. Following the suicide of her alcoholic father, and the deterioration of her relationship with her mother, Polly rebuilt her life, earning a reputation as a wildlife expert and rehabilitator, journalist and photographer. This is her inspirational story. Written with compassion, humour and optimism, she reflects on how her love of the natural world helped her find the strength to understand her parents, and to find an equilibrium.
Reviews
A remarkable, candid and fearlessly honest memoir, from the hugely talented Polly Pullar, peppered throughout with captivating details of nature in the wilds of Scotland.
– Sue Lawrence
In ‘The Horizontal Oak’ Polly Pullar skilfully and generously invites us into a life defined by a passion for wildlife and wild places, a life shaped by the addictions and loss of loved ones, a life full of compassion for the complexities of what it means to be human. The characters in this book are magnificent in all their flawed and colourful humanity. This deeply personal memoir is a treasure of insight, empathy and vulnerability, and the glorious people, animals and places within its pages will stay with you for a long time.
– Leonie Charlton
Nature in all its guises and a delightfully dark sense of humour are the forces that unite to overwhelm the consequences of a chaotic parental regime in this extraordinary and occasionally eye-moistening autobiography. Naturalist, writer, photographer and wildlife healer Polly Pullar emerges as a force of nature herself, still nursing some of life’s wounds, still smiling at the benevolent moments, still laughing out loud at its jokes. Like the eight-year-old girl watching her aviary who told her, “You are so lucky to have owls in your ovaries”, thereby summing up the life and the remarkable woman herself.
– Jim Crumley
A bright and illuminating memoir of both human and wildlife from one of this country’s finest nature writers. A work that often startles with its honesty and truth.
– Donald S. Murray
