Natural Selection

A strand of this blog, among others including local birding and holiday write-ups, has been reviewing nature writing. This is a review of the latest book I’ve read on Shetland, also encompassing another book I read in the autumn covering similar ground.

Storm Pegs is a reflection on the experiences of a woman who has moved to Shetland from the mainland, and takes in the interactions with islanders and visits to the outer isles. There are clear parallels to Sea Bean, by Sally Huband, which reflects the same northward migration and also includes a dedicated chapter on Foula as Storm Pegs does. In fact the two authors are clearly good friends and as far as I can see both describe the same beachcombing trip together in their respective works.

Jen Hadfield is a poet, and strange though it may sound this probably enhanced my appreciation of Storm Pegs even though I struggle with poetry. Her prose is elegant and she has a talent for unusual, often playful but always absolutely absorbing metaphor. She also uses Shetland dialect sparingly enough to maintain readability whilst giving the reader an insight into the language (and there’s a glossary if you get really stuck).

In terms of the things I know most about the book does a good job with its subjects. There is a short chapter on a rare bird (an American Red-breasted Grosbeak) visiting a garden and the ensuing arrival of birders that effectively highlights some of the idiosyncrasies of twitching. The Foula chapter is probably the best writing about the island I’ve seen by a non-resident, giving some different perspectives gleaned from listening to islanders. Other chapters on birds probably reflect some input from Jen’s sister, who is a keen birder, though I dispute the assertion it’s widespread to shake the hand of someone seeing a bird for the first time and say ‘Lifer’.

It’s not a slight tome, coming in at over 300 pages. It is wide ranging though, with 30 chapters so if anything does get a bit heavy (in my case examining salmon farm parasites for example) there’s soon another focus for the author’s excellent way with words. As Philip Marsden says in the cover testimonials ‘Jen Hadfield just has to turn her language gaze to the world and it fizzes to life on the page’.