Overview

Set in the urban pastoral of an East London postcode, Feral Borough asks what it means to call a place home, and how best to share that home with its non-human inhabitants. Meryl Pugh reimagines the wild as 'feral', recording the fauna and flora of Leytonstone in prose as incisive as it is lyrical. Here, on the edge of the city, red kite and parakeets thrive alongside bluebell and yarrow, a muntjac deer is glimpsed in the undergrowth, and an escaped boa constrictor appears on the High Road. In this subtle, captivating book - part herbarium, part bestiary and part memoir - Pugh explores the effects of loss, and lockdown, on human well-being, conjuring the local urban environment as a site for healing and connection. 'A subtle, heartfelt and affecting book about home, the city and the self -- Pugh reminds us that nowhere, however urban, is without nature; that wherever we go, the intricate web of life continues to shape and change us.' Rebecca Tamas

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9781908058959

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Reviews

'A subtle, heartfelt and affecting book about home, the city and the self' Rebecca Tamas; 'Feryl Borough' is original, curious, expansive. Pugh's writing seeks beauty in urban surroundings, with echoes of Jenny Odell's 'How To Do Nothing' by placing value on looking, recording and appreciating our local environment and of Leslie Kern's 'Feminist City' on the joy, frustrations and solidarity of women navigating routes through the city. A brilliant, honest account of London, a place of golden sunlight and strange shadows, written with remarkable emotional clarity. Pugh holds up the city for us to witness in all its tiny, profound detail.' Gemma Seltzer; 'After five chapters, you'll wish you lived in Leytonstone. Five more and you'll begin to wonder about the natural treasures lurking in your own part of town. Another five and you'll be out in the park with your magnifying glass and binoculars. Anyone who reads this terrific book will also want to live it. This is a most democratic bestiary. Skylarks and buzzards enjoy equal billing with hawthorn and common wood pigeons. Bluebells, six-toed cats, an escaped boa constrictor... Each is subject of a mini-essay that revels not only in the joys of urban wildlife, but also the quirks and oddities. Nature, strange in tooth and claw.' Matt Brown; 'An intimate journey into places that are at once familiar and strange, known and unfathomable, Meryl Pugh's writing conjures a wild city full of wonder among the everyday' Kerri Andrews

'A subtle, heartfelt and affecting book about home, the city and the self' Rebecca Tamas; 'Feryl Borough' is original, curious, expansive. Pugh's writing seeks beauty in urban surroundings, with echoes of Jenny Odell's 'How To Do Nothing' by placing value on looking, recording and appreciating our local environment and of Leslie Kern's 'Feminist City' on the joy, frustrations and solidarity of women navigating routes through the city. A brilliant, honest account of London, a place of golden sunlight and strange shadows, written with remarkable emotional clarity. Pugh holds up the city for us to witness in all its tiny, profound detail.' Gemma Seltzer; 'After five chapters, you'll wish you lived in Leytonstone. Five more and you'll begin to wonder about the natural treasures lurking in your own part of town. Another five and you'll be out in the park with your magnifying glass and binoculars. Anyone who reads this terrific book will also want to live it. This is a most democratic bestiary. Skylarks and buzzards enjoy equal billing with hawthorn and common wood pigeons. Bluebells, six-toed cats, an escaped boa constrictor... Each is subject of a mini-essay that revels not only in the joys of urban wildlife, but also the quirks and oddities. Nature, strange in tooth and claw.' Matt Brown

Author Information

Meryl Pugh grew up in Wales, New Zealand, East Anglia and the Forest of Dean, but has lived in London for 26 years. She has a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing from UEA and - having previously worked in schools, museums and libraries - now teaches creative writing and poetry for Morley College. Her debut poetry collection Natural Phenomena was published by Penned in the Margins in February 2018.

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