The Company of Owls - by Polly Atkin (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Longlisted for the 2025 Wainwright Prize in Nature Writing

An observant, lyrical memoir exploring what owls can teach us about nature, chronic illness, and ourselves--so long as we are quiet enough to listen.

"Let me tell you about my neighbors, the owls," writes Polly Atkin in this love letter to the clutch of tawny owlets residing near her Lake District home. Circumscribed by a chronic illness to her cottage and the surrounding area, she turns to the trees and the animals among them for companionship--especially the owl siblings who surprise and delight her. As Atkin watches the owls grow from curious fledglings into sleek raptors, she contemplates the act of survival and our place within it: When should a human intervene? When should nature take its course? What do the owls know that we do not?

The owls encourage her to think differently about solitude and community, individuality and belonging, rest and retreat. And with them as her companions, she weighs the many types of company we keep--in our relationships, in the darkness, and in our entanglement with the digital world that connects us across continents.

A call to find joy in unexpected places, The Company of Owls teaches us to listen when all around us seems like clamor and noise.

Review Quotes

"I couldn't put down this warm and comforting, beautiful book. We get to know Polly and the local owls she has such an affinity within the Lake District. It's an intimate journey of discovery, following the lives of three tawny owlets, watching them grow, willing them to do well and learning about their behaviour through Polly's observations and poetic musings. You are right there with her through moments of joy, jeopardy, pain, spine-tingling suspense and elation. Her totally gorgeous celebration of owls draws us closer to these mysterious and admirable birds."--Ajay Tegala, author of Wetland Diaries

"This gorgeous, dusky hymn to [tawny owls] and the other three species of owl that live wild in Cumbria meditates beautifully on what keeping company with these marvellous birds has taught her about 'difference and aloneness and companionship and difficulty.'"--The Bookseller, Editor's Choice

"The Company of Owls is a beautiful guide to moving through this world with tender curiosity, joy and reflection. Polly Atkin's words left me with a longing for owls and a longing for a world in which every single one of us can belong."--Sally Huband, author of Sea Bean

"I adored The Company of Owls. Rarely have I found a book so transporting, so moving, yet so subtle in its study of a place and a species. Polly Atkin writes with gentle grace--I will be thinking about the owls and the landscape of this book for a long time to come."--Jessica J. Lee, author of Dispersals

"The author is fortunate in her proximity to [owls], but this touching, gentle offering shows that, given a humble heart and willingness to stand still in nature and look and listen, you can get closer to owls than you'd imagine."--Country Life

"An elegiac meditation laced with gems of owl lore."--Saga

"A poet and writer based in Cumbria, Atkin has long entertained frequent visits from owls to her garden and sees them as her neighbours. Here, she reveals what they have taught her about life."--iNews

"Beautifully written and densely observant . . . a nocturnal love song to the owls that surround her Lake District home."--Christopher Hart, The Daily Mail

About the Author

Polly Atkin is an award-winning nature writer, memoirist, and poet. She has previously taught English Literature and Creative Writing at Queen Mary University of London, Strathclyde University, Lancaster University, and the University of Cumbria. Her first book, Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better, was longlisted for the 2024 Wainwright Prize. She currently lives in Grasmere, England, and is the co-owner of historic independent bookshop Sam Read Bookseller.