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Soundings: Journeying North in the Company of Whales - the award-winning memoir

Doreen Cunningham

8 Reviews

Rated 0

Arctic regions, Autobiography: general, Autobiography: science, technology & medicine, Indigenous peoples, Conservation of the environment, Travel writing

A prize-winning author's memoir about a mother and son following the migration of grey whales to Alaska

'Beautiful . . . Justifies its place alongside nature writing classics such as H is for Hawk' NEW STATESMAN

'Wonderful ... both frank and fearless' TELEGRAPH BEST TRAVEL BOOKS OF THE YEAR

'Fascinating' GUARDIAN TOP TEN NATURE MEMOIRS

From Mexico to the Arctic ice, grey whale mothers swim with their calves. Following them, by bus, train and ferry, are Doreen and her toddler Max, in pursuit of a wild hope.

Doreen first visited Alaska as a young BBC journalist reporting on climate change among indigenous whaling communities. There, drawn deeply into an Inupiaq family and an ill-fated love affair, she joined the bowhead whale hunt out on the sea ice.

Years later, now a single mother living in a hostel, Doreen embarks on this extraordinary journey: following the grey whale migration back to the Arctic, where greys and bowheads meet at the melting apex of our planet.

'As compelling as any novel... A human story of resilience, loss and immense bravery. It becomes not just a book about mother and son, whales, the climate, but a book about power and what happens when power is abused. It is a rallying call for love' Alice Kinsella, IRISH TIMES

'In this melodic memoir, the climate researcher turned journalist parallels the whales' journey with her own through parenthood' ShreyaChattopadhyay, NEW YORK TIMES

'Soundings got under my skin. I finished it in tears' AMY LIPTROT

'What a voice! What a book!' CHARLES FOSTER

'Soulful, honest, insightful, humane and propulsive' JINI REDDY

'Thrilling, passionate and tender-hearted' HELEN JUKES

WINNER OF THE RSL GILES ST AUBYN AWARD

LONGLISTED FOR THE SNHN NATURAL HISTORY BOOK PRIZE

ONE OF SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE'S TEN BEST BOOKS ABOUT TRAVEL OF 2022

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Praise for Soundings: Journeying North in the Company of Whales - the award-winning memoir

  • Doreen's is a thrilling, passionate and tenderhearted adventure. I read this book in one sitting, and couldn't sleep that night - my mind was still filled with her extraordinary endurance, her wild spirit. - Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart has Five Openings

  • What a voice! What a book! Pounding with the power of thrashing flukes, shivering with Arctic ice, yet suffused with rare human warmth. A book worthy of its mighty subjects. - Charles Foster, author of Being a Human

  • Beautiful and brave, and startling in its raw emotional honesty. - Neil Ansell, author of Deep Country and The Circling Sky

  • This stunning book blends nature writing of the most urgent kind with precise and poetic observation of human tribulation and the interconnectedness of all things. Fresh, brave and unique - Damian le Bas, author of The Stopping Places

  • Soundings stuns with its bravery and lyricism. This is a book to be devoured. - Ramita Navai, author of City of Lies

  • Cunningham's scientific knowledge and gorgeous prose take us on an extraordinary journey as she forges a remarkable connection with these astonishing creatures and issues an impassioned plea for our shared futures. Soundings is a completely unique, unforgettable book. - Erica Wagner

  • An intimate and fascinating story of one woman's journey with our most charismatic species - Mark Boyle, author of The Way Home

  • Beautifully written, insightful and gripping - Danny Lavelle, author of Down and Out

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Doreen Cunningham

Doreen Cunningham is an Irish-British writer born in Wales. After studying engineering she worked briefly in climate related research at NERC and in storm modelling at Newcastle University, before turning to journalism. She has worked for the BBC World Service variously as a international news presenter, editor, producer and reporter, since 2000. She won the RSL Giles St Aubyn Award 2020 and was shortlisted for the Eccles Centre and Hay Festival Writers Award 2021 for Soundings, her first book.

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