Accalia Smith
The Place of Tides is a non-fiction semi-biographical account by James Rebanks. It tells the tale of his time with an elderly eider-duck woman, Anna, on an archipelago in Norway off Veda called Fjærøy just below the Arctic circle; both examining the nature of conservation and the nature of humans.
Rebanks is best known for his books detailing his exploits as a sheep farmer in the Lake District (‘A Shepherds Life’ (2016) and ‘English Pastoral’ (2021). In this book, however, we see the sheep farmer searching further afield for answers to life’s big questions.
It is a special thing to find someone whose life, although greatly different, inspires so much in your own.
My first thoughts after flicking past the final page onto the acknowledgements and realising the book was over were ‘what a wonderful book’. It filled me with such wonder and warmth as I was reading, as though I was sat in a squidgy armchair(you know the kind you feel like you’ve fallen into and been encompassed by) in front of a roaring heart, hearing Anna’s and James’ stories audibly myself. Although the book sets out to bring Anna’s story to the world and the ‘extraordinary’ life she has lived, these tales are only made more significant by Rebanks’ relationship and response to them. It is a special thing to find someone whose life, although greatly different, inspires so much in your own.
What began as an age-old trade in these islands to make the coveted eider-down for duvets and pillows, increasingly becomes a hobby and an act of defiance against climate change in trying to save a species from extinction.
Rebank’s writes in a captivating style; both engaging in its storytelling and in the furthering of the questions that we, as readers, as well as Rebanks, increasingly want to know the answers to in Anna’s life. The book begins with a prologue framing the novel as one centring on the environment, on conservation, and environmental change. The opening line of ‘the age of humans will pass’ is a pragmatic and bleak beginning for a book ultimately about hope. It refers to the climat
e crisis and modernity; how things are changing in the environment and in society. The cover itself features the excerpt of ‘if we are to save the world, we have to start somewhere’. The conclusion of this ‘somewhere’, however, proves to have many different meanings as the story progresses. The title ‘The place of Tides’ refers to the possible translation of the name of the archipelago (a meaning which is debated in the book). Here is where the ancient tradition of helping eider ducks is carried on by a few women, namely Anna, to nest and collect eiderdown. What began as an age-old trade in these islands to make the coveted eider-down for duvets and pillows, increasingly becomes a hobby and an act of defiance against climate change in trying to save a species from extinction. Debanks, himself, is a farmer. Both are carrying on a legacy passed down by their respective families to be passed to the next generation, and both see a responsibility to the land they live on/ grew up on.
This style does make it feel more authentic as he has escaped his own world in the lake district to join Anna in hers.
Some see Debank’s own self-reflection in conjunction with Anna’s story as ‘half-hearted’ (Guardian) due to unexplained ideas such as that he “was a poor husband, father, brother, and son”. Although this story is framed with an idea of self-improvement from the beginning of the narrative, Debank chooses to focus more on Anna than on his own life. This does make the reflection, well, less reflective and leaving the reader with a lot of questions about our narrator/ author. However, this style does make it feel more authentic as he has escaped his own world in the Lake District to join Anna in hers. Comments such as these are also somewhat ironic – being away from your wife and children for four months is not a qualifier for the best husband and father award.
Overall, this is a non-fiction book that is bound to become a nature classic in the future, but it is also a very human book all about connection – to ourselves, to each other and the world around us. A Place of Tides is a book that both brings hope and reminds us of what we could lose in our busy modern world.
Accalia Smith
Featured image courtesy of Trnava University on Upsplash. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article image 1 courtesy of Accalia Smith. Permisison to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article image 2 courtesy of Accalia Smith. Permisison to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
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