Review: Life on the Floodplain
In our November issue of Wye Local, Cariannne Ralph reviews Life on the Floodplain: A Garden Wildlife Diary 2020 by local author Ceri Leigh…
Ceri Leigh is an author from the Usk floodplain. Previously an exhibitions manager for design and conservation at the Natural History Museum, Ceri has always taken inspiration from nature.
From her studies and career, it now guides the coping strategies used in managing her PTSD. Following a traumatic yet simple incident, Ceri now suffers from severe PTSD, resulting in seizures and dissociation. In order to manage living with this diagnosis, Ceri grounds herself by taking photographs and making notes of the landscape which surrounds her each day. The product of which is this book.
Ceri Leigh’s writing is so gentle and yet so honest. Her attention to detail grounds the reader in place and it is easy to see how this was a form of therapy for the writer, as it certainly becomes that for the reader. With all that took place throughout 2020, it is interesting to read the micro-happenings of her garden alongside the macro-happenings of the world. The idea of nature as therapy really blooms between these pages. As an author, Ceri guides the reader through the headlines and memories of the pandemic in such a way that getting lost within the writing feels as though you are strolling through her garden, and somewhere in the distance there is a television playing through an open window, the faint sound of news headlines being read. Reading this book was a uniquely therapeutic experience I didn’t know I needed.
The writing is not the only form of art within this book which pulls the reader in. The photography captured and presented by Ceri shows the landscape from another angle and the vibrancy of the colours entices the reader through the pages and through the changing seasons of the landscape that is displayed upon them.
Written by a local person in the local landscape, there is never a more interesting read than one from a person and place with which you relate. Living in rural Wales it is no question that we are blessed with some of the most beautiful views in the world, but how many of us can say that we have looked at them in intricate and consistent detail? Read this book and see the Usk floodplains as you never have before.
Life on the Floodplain: A Garden Wildlife Diary 2020 is a lovely gift, beautifully fabric bound with metallic text over the cover and with Ceri’s own photographs between the pages it makes for such a layered and engaging read. The standard and finish of the book itself is of superb quality and well worth the price of only £25. It would look beautiful on a bookshelf, on a coffee table or under a Christmas tree. Find it online or support your local bookshops and go to Brecon Books or Booth’s Bookshop.
