Pavelle, Sophie – The Bell Bookshop

To have or to hold

Emma — Thu, 08 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A thrilling exploration of nature’s symbiotic relationships, some comforting and familiar, others wildly alien, by the award-winning author of Forget Me Not.

What can nature teach us about living together? Investigating eight symbiotic relationships trying to survive the climate and biodiversity crises, Sophie Pavelle explains why it has never been more vital for us to understand symbiosis. Symbiotic relationships regulate ecosystems, strengthen resilience and bind pivotal connections.

Species living together in symbiosis is no accident – these dynamics evolved. Species form and sever alliances everywhere, from deep within temperate rainforests to the open ocean, quiet tidal pools or chalk grasslands, and nature thrives on relationships as glamorous as they are grotesque and as bizarre as they are engrossing.

In To Have or To Hold, Sophie relishes the interconnectedness between species and celebrates the relationships that underpin natural environments. Low-carbon travelling around the British Isles, she presents nature’s frauds, fortune-tellers, misfits and cheaters.

The natural world is built on parasitism, a cunning blend of bargaining and exploitation in the name of survival. In our relationship with the natural world, are we the parasites? Will we continue to exploit nature’s resources? Or will we vow to love and cherish what remains – shaping a more restorative life alongside nature – till death us do part?

Forget me not

Emma — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

WINNER OF THE PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION AND LONGLISTED FOR THE JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON CONSERVATION.‘Enchanting? a joy to read.’ JOANNA LUMLEY‘Vibrant and vital.’ CHRIS PACKHAM‘Forget Me Not is a tonic.’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT‘Remarkable.’ NELL FRIZZELL‘A fierce, passionate stand for the wild.’ MEGAN MCCUBBIN‘Funny, full of interest and often poignant.’ ISABELLA TREE‘Beautiful. Rare. Profound. Hopeful.’ CHARLOTTE PHILBY‘Passionate, pragmatic and seriously funny.’ GILLIAN BURKE‘Wonderfully refreshing.’ BENEDICT MACDONALD–Join Sophie Pavelle on a low-carbon journey around Britain in search of ten animals and habitats threatened by climate change in the 21st century.Forget-me-not – a beautiful flower and a plea from our islands’ wildlife. When climate change has driven dozens of our most charismatic species to extinction, will they be forgotten? Like many of her generation, Sophie Pavelle is determined to demand action on climate change. In her hilarious and thought-provoking first book, she describes the trips she took to see ten rare native species: species that could disappear by 2050 and be forgotten by the end of the century if their habitats continue to decline. Sophie challenged herself to find them the low-carbon way, travelling the length of Britain on foot, by bicycle, in an electric car, by kayak, on ferries and in a lot of trains. From Bodmin Moor to the Orkney Islands, Sophie encountered species on the frontline of climate change in Britain. Which are going to be seriously affected, and why? Could some bounce back from the brink? Or are we too late to save them? Forget Me Not is a clarion call: we all need to play a part in tackling this most existential of threats. Everyone can see wildlife in the British Isles without contributing to its destruction. With joyful irreverence, Sophie shows us we can dare to hope. Journey with her, and she may even inspire you to take action for nature and head out on your own low-carbon adventure.

Forget Me Not

Emma — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Join Sophie Pavelle on a low-carbon journey around Britain in search of ten animals and habitats threatened by climate change in the 21st centuryForget-me-not – a beautiful flower and a plea from our islands’ wildlife. When climate change has driven dozens of our most charismatic species to extinction, will they be forgotten? Like many of her generation, Sophie Pavelle is determined to demand action on climate change. In her hilarious and thought-provoking first book, she describes the trips she took to see ten rare native species: species that could disappear by 2050 and be forgotten by the end of the century if their habitats continue to decline. Sophie challenged herself to find them the low-carbon way, travelling the length of Britain on foot, by bicycle, in an electric car, by kayak, on ferries and in a lot of trains. From Bodmin Moor to the Orkney Islands, Sophie encountered species on the frontline of climate change in Britain. Which are going to be seriously affected, and why? Could some bounce back from the brink? Or are we too late to save them? Forget Me Not is a clarion call: we all need to play a part in tackling this most existential of threats. Everyone can see wildlife in the British Isles without contributing to its destruction. With joyful irreverence, Sophie shows us we can dare to hope. Journey with her, and she may even inspire you to take action for nature and head out on your own low-carbon adventure.