The Golden Mole
and Other Living Treasure
by Katherine Rundell
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Pub Date 20 Oct 2022 | Archive Date 6 Dec 2022
Faber and Faber Ltd | Faber & Faber
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Description
*PLEASE NOTE, THIS NETGALLEY REVIEW COPY DOES NOT INCLUDE ILLUSTRATIONS*
A gloriously illustrated and fascinating bestiary of the world's most extraordinary endangered animals - a treasure trove of vanishing wonders.
The world is more astonishing, more miraculous and more wonderful than our wildest imaginings.
In this passionately persuasive and sharply funny book, Katherine Rundell tells us how and why.
***
A swift flies two million kilometres in its lifetime. That's far enough to get to the moon and back twice over - and then once more to the moon. A pangolin keeps its tongue furled in a pouch by its hip, a Greenland shark can live five hundred years, a wombat once inspired a love poem.
Advance Praise
'From bears to bats to hermit crabs, a witty, intoxicating paean to Earth’s wondrous creatures . . . shot through with Rundell’s characteristic wit and swagger.' Guardian
'A rare and magical book. I didn't want it to end.' Bill Bryson
'A book as rare and precious as a golden mole. A joyous catalogue of curiosities that builds into a timely reminder that life on planet is worth our wonder.' Frank Cottrell-Boyce
'A loving and lovely book.' Sarah Moss
'Rundell is the real deal, a writer of boundless gifts and extraordinary imaginative power.' Observer
‘Deeply affecting, intimate and wildly funny . . . I loved it.‘ Edmund de Waal
'A wondrous ode to nature’s astonishing beauty – and an elegy for all the life we are in the midst of destroying. This is a book filled with love and hope and whiskers and wings, by turns ravishing and devastating. No one sings the praises of the world quite like Katherine Rundell.' Amia Srinivasan
'Rundell is a class act.' The Times
'Rundell is an astonishing young talent.' Daily Mail
'Rundell is the real deal, a writer of boundless gifts and extraordinary imaginative power.' Observer
'It is among my proudest boasts, that I was massive Rundell fan before she became a national treasure.' Dan Snow
'Rundell's pen is gold-tipped.' Sunday Times
'She’s beguiling us with an exquisitely written bestiary of the world’s most astonishing animals. I shall be jealously guarding my own copy and buying several more for Christmas presents.' Jacqueline Wilson
'Teaming up with the illustrator Talya Baldwin, she has created a paper menagerie of twenty-two exquisite, daunting and vulnerable creatures.' Literary Review
'Exquisitely written.' The Times
Available Editions
EDITION | Hardcover |
ISBN | 9780571362493 |
PRICE | £14.99 (GBP) |
PAGES | 208 |
Featured Reviews
There is no denying the literary talent of Katherine Rundell; she is an alchemist with language weaving together vocabulary and sentences to create fictional works of joy, fascination, comedy , drama but in this instance her magical use of prose is directed to more a serious “earthly “ focus - the decline and hopefully survival of a selection of different creatures from around the planet - our living treasures . Yes, this is a call to arms to recognise what is happening to the planet but this is not a book of doom and gloom but a beautiful celebration of the various species that are explored. A topiary of literary references - mythical tales, legends , historical facts that tell the fascinating stories of the chosen birds, insects and animals - mixing fact and folklore each is brought to life beyond a single description .Katherine Rundell’s magical pen lures us into the world of each creature and highlights man’s role in the decline of the species but most importantly shines a light upon the glory and magic of each one.- that could vanish forever. Talya Baldwin’s illustrations are jaw- droppingly beautiful and deserve an exhibition at the Natural History Museum - they add further depth and magic to the book. This is a book to savour, to slowly unwrap, to share with friends and family but most essentially to read and recognise that if we don’t soon recognise what we have and what is happening then it will be too late - the living treasures could become the buried treasure we never wish to find