Forget Me Not

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents Forget Me Not written and read by Sophie Pavelle.

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.

Critics Review

This enchanting book could not be more timely: it brings much to inspire our future thinking, and is a joy to read.

Joanna Lumley

Vibrant and vital. The trials of ten treasured species that we can’t afford to fail. A biological romp with a real mission.

broadcaster and author of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar

This engaging romp in search of our most endangered species is a timely reminder of the magic we have in nature and what we are set to lose if we don’t wake up. Funny, full of interest and often poignant, travelling with Sophie Pavelle is a journey to remember.

Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

A fierce, passionate stand for the wild.

Megan McCubbin, zoologist, conservationist and broadcaster

Forget Me Not sings and rings with a distinctive combination of passion, humour and energy; Sophie Pavelle’s low-carbon journey round the overlooked, undersung species of our island group makes a heartfelt plea for the need to conserve, restore and replenish the wildlife we have left.

author of Underland

If the canon of British nature writing has a reputation for being male and overly earnest, then Sophie Pavelle’s Forget Me Not is a one-book rebalancing act.

New Statesman

This is such a beautiful book. Full of humour, adventure, poignancy. It will make you value the country around you and even hungrier to protect it. Remarkable.

journalist and author of The Panic Years

Forget Me Not is a tonic… Pavelle’s writing is a delight, full of extended sartorial or food-related metaphors, puns and cheeky humour.

Times Literary Supplement

The prose is as lyrical as it is sassy, as insightful as it is impassioned.

Guardian Book of the Day

A clarion call for us all to do something to make a difference.

Caught by the River

Urgent and challenging, but also fun and beautifully written, Sophie documents her low-carbon journeys exposing the reality of climate change in Britain.

broadcast journalist, adventurer and author of Step by Step

Beautiful. Rare. Profound. Hopeful.

author of A Double Life

Finding wonder in the familiar and celebrating the unknown in the everyday, this is a beautiful book – and so perfectly told.

author, broadcaster, biologist

Sophie Pavelle writes with the urgency and voice of a generation. Her commitment is matched with a fierce knowledge of conservation biology and policymaking, whose murky corridors are expertly navigated. Passionate, pragmatic and seriously funny.

biologist, presenter and writer

From rare butterflies to bats and bumblebees, Sophie takes us on a breathless but strangely relaxing whistle-stop tour of Britain in search of some of our less familiar, fragile and fascinating wildlife. Charming, witty and moving.

Professor of Biology and author of A Sting in the Tale

Pavelle is the best kind of science writer – who makes you feel almost as smart as she is, priming and signposting in such a way that you grasp the punchline in the moment before she delivers it. Make no mistake, this is serious stuff, requiring serious communication. But she balances love and irreverence, data and ditz. I loved the breezy humour, the sass and savviness.

naturalist, writer, campaigner and Guardian Country Diarist

A wonderfully refreshing look at the vanishing species around us, what they mean and why they matter.

naturalist, wildlife TV producer and author of Rebirding

Forget Me Not is that enchanting book that makes you want to put on your hiking boots and big coat, get outdoors and immerse yourself in nature. Sophie’s writing is funny and accessible whilst being a call to arms for us to protect Britain’s most vulnerable species. Perfect for old hats and newbies to wildlife. Highly recommended.

NHS doctor, broadcaster, author and Vice President of The Wildlife Trusts

Sophie has a warm tone of voice in this enjoyable and accessible read.

BBC Wildlife magazine

Pavelle has a lively mind and sense of humour … [she] explains the science well and has done a serious amount of research.

Country Life magazine

Here is a vibrant and vital voice from the millennial generation that is fighting climate change and its devastating effect on the world around us.

Caught by the River

Like the captured sunshine she describes persisting in a seagrass meadow even on a cloudy day, she [Pavelle] has captured a different kind of light here, that of youth and love and hope.

Guardian Book of the Day

Pavelle pulls no punches, giving the facts as they are, but weaving them together with a poetic touch and some light-hearted relief. It felt counterintuitive to be chuckling out loud while reading a book about such a bleak topic, but that is the beauty of Forget Me Not.

British Wildlife

A lively introduction to the nature crisis in the British Isles.

New Statesman

Her style is lively, casual and autobiographical, and her book would suit young people new to nature writing and keen to learn more about the biodiversity on our doorstep.

Geographical

This is perfection.

environmentalist

Gritty, amusing and wonderfully educational, a truly inspiring account of species at the forefront of climate change in Britain.

author of Land Healer

A journey well worth joining.

Best of Britain

Sophie Pavelle’s book properly stands out in the increasingly crowded nature writing field. She writes powerfully about vital issues, in a totally fresh, funny and accessible way that is distinctively her own. Loved it.

author of Wild Fell

An absolute triumph in science communication.

author of The Orchid Hunter and Where the Wildflowers Grow

Passionate and thought-provoking.

Countryman

It’s full of wonder and joy. And crucially, it’s written in the voice of a friend […] while there’s wit and warmth flowing through each chapter, the message never stops being urgent.

Country Walking

Pavelle’s weapons in the face of these difficult truths are positivity and action.

Geographical

This is a very thought-provoking read and hopefully will inspire us to do something about it [climate change] to prevent future losses.

Bird Watching

…amusing and thought-provoking.

Bury and West Suffolk magazine

A book about climate change with deep adoration for the natural world at its heart.

The Great Outdoors

Low-carbon wandering propels Sophie Pavelle’s jauntier tour of climate-change Britain in Forget Me Not.

Country & Town House

…refreshingly new voice.

Stephen Moss

At the heart of Sophie’s book is a fierce and merlin-like love of all that is wild.

author of The Meaning of Geese

This book aims to challenge and it succeeds with a quiet and constant hum of urgency.

author of brother.do.you.love.me

Before reading Forgot Me Not, I hadn’t thought it possible to write a book about the effect of climate change on different species that is buoyant, funny and hopeful – yet Sophie Pavelle has pulled it off superbly. This book is wonderful.

author of Unearthed

Engaging, compelling and more important than ever.

author of In Your Defence and Rooted

Packed with facts from the experts she meets on her travels, we learn a lot about the underdog species that have missed our attention … This is Sophie’s first release, and like the species she discovers, it’s not to be forgotten.

Rewilding Britain

A remarkable and fascinating book that manages to convey a wealth of facts about the daunting future of these species… with humour and lightness of touch.

The Bookseller

Seldom have I learned so much, while laughing out loud. A joyous but quietly angry book about the beauty of Britain’s wildlife, how we have failed it, how to save it, and how accessible it is by public transport. At the end I felt determined to see our most threatened species protected.

author of Avocado Anxiety

A unique, brilliant and beautiful new way of writing and celebrating the good stuff, whilst reminding us of the precarity of it all […] Forget Me Not is fresh and funny, sharp and poignant; stop scrolling and read this book!

author of On Gallows Down

A lovely journey into our wildest places with the inspiring message: conservation works and we should let it.

journalist, conservationist and author of Rewilding the Sea

A lightness of touch, given to a serious subject: that’s what makes this British journey urgent reading, for young and old. I loved this book — a moving story about what we’re losing, introduced to me by my son, who urged me to read it.

journalist and author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia

A beautiful, immersive read.

author of The Red of my Blood

Pavelle’s wit makes the book a joy to read.

The Times

If getting people to listen is key to highlighting today’s conservation issues, then [Pavelle], with her ability to communicate so passionately and knowledgeably, is unlocking all the doors.

British Wildlife

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