I Belong Here - by Anita Sethi
Welcome to I BELONG HERE: A JOURNEY ALONG THE BACKBONE OF BRITAIN
Book
News: WINNER of Books Are My Bag Award.
News: Shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize
News: Nominated for the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize for books evoking “a strong sense of place”
News: Longlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing
News: Front Cover of The Bookseller in exclusive pre-publication interview.
News: Chosen as a Waterstones’ Best Book to Look Forward to in 2021
News: Selected for the Guardian’s Literary Highlights of 2021
News: Selected as Book of the Month in The Bookseller
I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain
By Anita Sethi
(Bloomsbury, 29th April 2021)
“I knew in every bone in my body, in every fibre of my being that I had to speak up. I knew I could not stay silent or still. I knew I had to keep walking through the world”
A journey of reclamation through the natural landscapes of the North, brilliantly exploring identity, nature, place and belonging. Beautifully written and truly inspiring, I Belong Here heralds a powerful and refreshing new voice in nature writing.
Anita Sethi was on a journey through Northern England when she became the victim of a race-hate crime. The crime was a vicious attack on her right to exist in a place on account of her race. After the event Anita experienced panic attacks and anxiety. A crushing sense of claustrophobia made her long for wide open spaces, to breathe deeply in the great outdoors. She was intent on not letting her experience stop her travelling freely and without fear.
The Pennines – known as ‘the backbone of Britain’ runs through the north and also strongly connects north with south, east with west – it’s a place of borderlands and limestone, of rivers and ‘scars’, of fells and forces. The Pennines called to Anita with a magnetic force; although a racist had told her to leave, she felt drawn to further explore the area she regards as her home, to immerse herself deeply in place.
Anita’s journey through the natural landscapes of the North is one of reclamation, a way of saying that this is her land too and she belongs in the UK as a brown woman, as much as a white man does. Her journey transforms what began as an ugly experience of hate into one offering hope and finding beauty after brutality. Anita transforms her personal experience into one of universal resonance, offering a call to action, to keep walking onwards. Every footstep taken is an act of persistence. Every word written against the rising tide of hate speech, such as this book, is an act of resistance.
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Praise for I BELONG HERE:
“An incredibly powerful, moving and beautifully told story of what it means to belong, of trauma and healing, slavery and freedom. Anita Sethi’s journey and her words are brave, psychologically astute and eye-opening, with fascinating insights and a rare attention to the sensuous details of wild magic, the layers of outer and inner landscape, and the potency of language. This book will make the world a better place. We are so lucky that Sethi invites us to walk on the path alongside her, seeing the majesty of the natural world through her eyes, and her prose, inciting us to fall in love with it, again.”
– Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden
“A magnificent and redemptive achievement. I find it so moving that such a beautifully written, hate-defying book has been born from such a horrific experience. A powerful blend of memoir, current affairs, travel and nature writing…just like the limestone strata of the Pennine sedimentary landscapes she so evocatively describes, I Belong Here is a work of many layers. The book beautifully expresses her love of the natural world, and her joy at putting one foot in front of the other. I Belong Here is a shining example of how books, at their best, can be an act of resistance and a communal force for good.”
– Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller
‘In gorgeous prose that rolls along like the uplands, Anita Sethi opens our eyes to the beauty of our countryside and the hurt and healing found therein. It is rare to find writing that evokes landscape so finely but also conveys our inner world with such power, emotion, vulnerability and truth.‘
– Patrick Barkham, author of Wild Child
“Excellent…powerful…A brilliant writer.”
– Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant.
“By turns joyous and humbling, I Belong Here is an urgent and necessary addition to the canon of contemporary writing about place in Britain.”
– Katharine Norbury, editor of Women on Nature
“Bold, lyrical and compelling, Sethi redefines the nature genre with this brave, brilliant and defiant book. Part memoir, part philosophy, part analysis of current British culture and politics, I Belong Here is a reminder to us all to speak out when we witness racism of any kind. It is a rousing and beautiful ode to hope and wildness. I loved it.”
– Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Adults and Animals
“I Belong Here is a brilliant, brave and important book, which tells the story of two intertwining journeys: one made on foot and the other made in the heart. Anita’s is a vital and resonant voice and here she powerfully and movingly reclaims the landscape of the North as hers to love and belong in.”
– Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland
MEDIA REVIEWS
Stanfords Travel, Book of the Month
A recommended read in Wanderlust Magazine
‘For anyone who has ever felt out of place, I Belong Here is a moving and comforting read. For everyone else, it is an education. Punchier and more political than most nature writing, this book is a thing of beauty.’
– Sunday Times
‘A memoir of rare power’
– Guardian
‘Nature’s beauty and wilderness provide a welcome escape from Sethi’s city life and kickstart a healing process as she becomes enveloped in the great outdoors, taking us on an emotional journey at the same time. It’s an amazing odyssey: inspiring, powerful, encouraging and incredibly brave.’
– Independent
“Passionate and reflective.”
– New Statesman
‘A powerful and moving memoir’
– BBC Countryfile Mag
‘Restored and enlivened by the wonders of nature, Anita finds the courage to embrace her vulnerabilities and strengths and to claim her place in the world. Brave and life-affirming book.’
– S Magazine, Sunday Express
‘A profound read, weaving a sequence of immense concepts into a beautiful, unique and uplifting story about a walk. It’s also a superb study of the wildlife and wildness of the Pennines, and the words that northerners have found to name and describe them. Walkers may recognise many sights within Anita’s journey. But rarely has a writer brought so many strands of social and cultural history into the concept of walking.’
– Country Walking, Britain’s bestselling walking magazine
‘A masterful example of nature writing’
– The National
‘A beautiful, important, and inspiring exploration of our natural world and the author’s sense of belonging within her own country. Thought-provoking and inclusive, this is a wonderful blend of nature and an examination of language, community and friendship. Words dance in her hands, she shows how much language matters, looking at the meanings of words, particularly with regards to nature and emotions. She is so beautifully eloquent. Anita’s words encouraged me to look again, to not just see the face of our natural surroundings but to look in more depth at our natural history and how it exists and connects us. A LoveReading Star Book, I Belong Here is a truly beautiful and important read that I can wholeheartedly recommend’ – Liz Robinson, LoveReading
‘I Belong Here is a glorious book, presenting curiosity and exploration as a magnificently defiant response to the brute pettiness of prejudice. It opens the reader’s eyes to triumphant effect.’
– Tortoise
‘Exploring nature writing through such a political and powerful lens is groundbreaking and it was truly a joy to read, even if the content was emotionally challenging at times. Written in incredible prose… Sethi is a powerhouse writer and her work deserves a place on every bookshelf. We can’t wait to see what she creates next.’
– Nrth Lass
‘I Belong Here is an extraordinary piece of place writing, not least because of Sethi’s talent for describing the Northern landscape that she encounters. Sethi’s nature writing is relatable and accessible…It’s a searingly personal book, but its themes are universal with Sethi considering topics such as loneliness, grief, what it’s like to walk alone as a woman, history, politics, freedom, protest and identity. I felt her power and emotion searing through the page. Not only is I Belong Here an original piece of nature writing, it’s also a moving read. It’s powerful, vulnerable and, above all, truthful. The perfect recipe for a memoir’ – Northern Soul
Book of the Month, The Bookseller – Reviewed by Caroline Sanderson
I Belong Here - by Anita Sethi 