Summer is traditionally a time of plenty, of warmth; a time to celebrate abundance. And so Stephen Rutt sets out to explore the natural world during its moment of fullest bloom. Butterflies and dragonflies add colour to his days; moths and bats lift the warm nights; swallows, nightjars and wood warblers fill the forests and skies. What Stephen notices too, however, are the many ways in which the season is becoming deranged by a changed and changing climate: the wrong birds singing at the wrong time; August days as cold as February; the creeping disturbances that we may not notice while nature still has some voice. This book is both a celebration of summer and a warning of the unravelling of this beautiful web of abundant life. This is a book that sings with love and careful observation, with an eye on all that we might lose but also save.

“in this seasonal grey area, I find myself yearning for summer again”

Stephen Rutt “The Eternal Season”. Published by Elliott & Thompson in 2021. Donated to the library by the publisher ❤️

Photos by Anna Iltnere / Sea Library