With lyrical prose Michael Malay has produced a book that is a gentle homage to nature and an examination of our integral role as custodians of our local habitats. Far from a book of doom-and-gloom, ‘Late Light’ sets out to show that by revitalising our engagement with nature and re-thinking our use of landscapes, we have it within our grasp to arrest the snowballing loss of biodiversity occurring in our own neighbourhoods. Opening with wonderfully descriptive recollections of when he first moved to Bristol in his early twenties and the wildlife he encountered, there are then four chapters highlighting the lifecycles, habitats, and recent decline in populations of eels, moths, fresh-water muscles, and crickets. Each chapter also looks at the wider implications of this loss of diversity and examines how political and economic decisions have played their part. Highlighting the connectedness of environmental webs, ‘Late Light’ is both a celebration of the abundance of life around us and a call for us to heed our impact upon it. Always engaging and drawing on personal experience and both scientific data and literary references, Malay reminds us of how much we owe our own wellbeing to the natural world around us, and just how beautiful that world is.

With lyrical prose Michael Malay has produced a book that is a gentle homage to nature and an examination of our integral role as custodians of our local habitats. Far from a book of doom-and-gloom, ‘Late Light’ sets out to show that by revitalising our engagement with nature and re-thinking our use of landscapes, we have it within our grasp to arrest the snowballing loss of biodiversity occurring in our own neighbourhoods. Opening with wonderfully descriptive recollections of when he first moved to Bristol in his early twenties and the wildlife he encountered, there are then four chapters highlighting the lifecycles, habitats, and recent decline in populations of eels, moths, fresh-water mussels, and crickets. Each chapter also looks at the wider implications of this loss of diversity and examines how political and economic decisions have played their part. Highlighting the connectedness of environmental webs, ‘Late Light’ is both a celebration of the abundance of life around us and a call for us to heed our impact upon it. Always engaging and drawing on personal experience and both scientific data and literary references, Malay reminds us of how much we owe our own wellbeing to the natural world around us, and just how beautiful that world is.

There is a difference between describing and creating a world. It's as if some authors have that rare and, dare I say, magical ability to share something of their imaginative realm with you. You don't just picture that world, you can breathe the same air. This is one of those rare treats, and Micheal is a master at storytelling. I eagerly await his next book.