🌟🌟🌟🌟💫

A true story, based on the fascinating life story of Anna, a Norwegian woman, now seventy years old, who for decades has spent each spring-time tending to the nesting needs of eider ducks on the remote island of Fjærøy, off the coast of Norway, just south of the Arctic.

Anna, known as a “duck woman”, provides safety and sanctuary for egg-laying female eider ducks, who will in return, leave nests padded with valuable eider-down, available to be collected upon the birth and release to sea of their furry ducklings.

When James Redbank, the author, a sheep farmer from Britain who has found himself ‘unmoored and frustrated’ with his own connection to the things that really matter, convinces Anna to allow him to join her to observe and assist in her upcoming sojourn to “the Place of Tides”, (as the remote island is colloquially known), this narrative is born.

And what a charming narrative it is.

Anna is a remarkable woman, or really, an “ordinary woman leading an extraordinary life”, which is certainly true as compared to modern urban life in Norway. As James journeys along with Anna and her friend Ingrid (herself a “trainee” duck woman), setting up camp in a little white house with no running water, a compost toilet in a hut, and only occasional electricity from a small generator, this beautifully written tale melds into an otherworldly rewind to a simpler time, bordered by physical work, an intense communion with the natural world, and a philosophical reflection on the meaning of connection itself, and how to recognize its centrality in a meaningful life.

This is a lovely, soul-soothing and inspiring read, a gentle reminder that slowing down, turning back the clock, and rethinking our focus boasts untold hidden treasures — and for some of us, a psychological reset that may be long overdue.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.