Land Beneath the Waves: How the Natural World Helped One Woman Navigate Chronic Illness, Self-Acceptance and Belonging – One of BBC Wildlife’s best nature books of 2025

By Nic Wilson

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One of BBC Wildlife’s Books of the Year 2025

""A book of great courage, curiosity, discovery and connection."" – Amy-Jane Beer, author of The Flow

""Both gentle and fierce, as well as bravely and radically honest, I loved this book."" – Nicola Chester, author of Ghosts of the Farm

""Both ordinary and profound, Land Beneath the Waves charts a process most of us never manage: to give a true account of ourselves."" – Melissa Harrison, novelist, nature writer and author of The Given World

A moving, honest and revealing memoir of living with chronic illness, and an examination of the ways a relationship with the natural world can affect us, from debut author and Guardian country diarist Nic Wilson When Nic Wilson begins researching the history of her local landscape and its wildlife, the last thing she wants to do is consider her own past. But as she unearths tales of giant sequoias, puss moths, nightingales and chalk streams, Nic realises her affinity with the nearby wild began as a way to handle growing up with a mother who lived with a debilitating chronic illness. Now in her forties, and struggling with mental and physical health herself, Nic revisits her childhood to trace the influence of the natural world on her life. As she grapples with revelations from the past, the boundaries between self and land become increasingly porous, and the lure of the wetlands around her home threatens to engulf her. Can she find the strength to face the waves of chronic illness – past and present – and learn to reach for steady ground? With the natural world facing more threats than ever before, Land Beneath the Waves inspires us to develop a meaningful bond with our local natural spaces and landscapes, illuminating a hopeful path towards a better future for human and non-human life.

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