I read Wintering last year, and loved it. I was provided a digital copy of The Electricity of Every Living Thing, expecting it to be a new book, and was surprised when I found out that it was actually published before Wintering, in 2018. This has been released in October 2021, perhaps as Wintering happily seems to have found it’s audience.

For this book, it’s the story of May’s walk around the South West coast, on the South West Coast Path (as the name attests). She feels a pull to walk outside, to accomplish something - perhaps linked with the birth of her son, another birthday looming or something else, who knows. She sets out to walk the path in chunks, hampered by her living in Kent and a lack of holidays. Plus, a small child to look after. Her telling of how angry she gets walking up hills she didn’t know were there, getting lost, having wet feet etc made me think first of the Duke of Edinburgh walks I took on at school and also of countless long runs, where I have meltdowns on having to cross the road again, or the wind/sun/rain etc.

It’s not all hardship - following along with her is fascinating, as she carries on, finds her tribe in those around her, learns what she needs to be comfortable and, as in the blurb, listens to a radio show about adult autism which strikes an unexpected chord.

Katherine May’s writing is quite direct, and I think some people find it too blunt. I love her outlook, her stubbornness and her wit - she’s very dry and really funny. It reminded me of Helen MacDonald’s H is for Hawk or Vesper Flights in that both women are fantastically knowledgeable about the outdoors, approach life with a fairly stoic manner and basically, seem like people I’d like to hang out with.

The description of the countryside, of what it was and is now, made me want to go outside and walk, to really see the animals in the hedgerows and experience the seasons in a way which I don’t think we do now.

I spotted a review for this which the reviewer had criticised it for being pointless, that she missed out sections and didn’t even do that much walking (neither is quite true), but I feel for that reviewer as he’s just missed the point, and the nuances, completely. This isn’t a Michael Palin travelogue, but it’s just about Katherine May’s journey in herself than it is along the path, as well as discovering the connection that we all have to each other, in strange and exciting ways.

Recommended for all of those people in your life who love Helen MacDonald, the Salt Path etc.

This book was a real treat to read, not only from the interesting aspect of someone realising they are autistic (Asperger's) as an adult but also the walks she undertakes whilst doing so around the beautiful South West coast path.
This was raw, emotional, revelatory and cathartic to read, Katherine's experiences of motherhood and how overwhelming things can be, balanced by the tender moments she shares with Bert was exceptionally written.
I feel this book provides a real insight in to the vast intricacies and experiences of a person on the spectrum, as well as detailing the highs & lows of hiking, including some wonderful informative anecdotes on the places she comes across on the coastal path.
The acceptance found through navigating herself through diagnosis and the instances that lead up to it is perhaps the most important aspect of the story, that it's ok to be different.
A really delightful book.

This is part memoir of a woman realising and coming to terms with the knowledge that she has autism, and part travelogue of walking the South West Coastal path. All of the anecdotes about Katherine’s early life through to becoming a mother and how she struggled to fit herself in to this loud and unpredictable world are in turns sad, engaging and uplifting. It is also very positive about the diagnosis and the future, which I loved. I did feel that the travelogue aspect of the book sometimes jarred with the other stories, although there are many links between the two.