Keggie Carew promoting her new book 'Beastly'

By chance I found out that Keggie Carew would be making a promotional appearance for her latest book at Toppings Bookshop in Bath. I emailed her to double-check it was still happening, and she was delighted that I might attend. In fact she then contacted Pip, one of my oldest friends, who decided to come over on the train from his home in Bristol. So off I drove in the late afternoon on the delightful A46 road to Bath, one of my favourite routes.

Keggie and I met in 1979 when she worked for Bruce M., a publisher in London whose home and offices I was then decorating over a period of time, in between my frisbee competitions. Our lives have criss-crossed ever since and we still have many mutual friends. Pip also got a job as an editor at that same publishing company, as did Patrick H., my even older school friend and author who lives in Dorset and whom I've blipped several times too.

Keggie is married to Jonathan T., who has created the wonderful  – Underhill Wood Nature Reserve – in Wiltshire, which has become a centre for promoting ‘rewilding’ of landscapes, with his own land as the living proof of its efficacy. I’ve have supplied some photographs of the reserve for the website and his booklets. JT is an amazing person who captivates everyone with his energy, enthusiasm and commitment to improving the world. Keggie and JT are so lucky to have each other.

I was captivated by Keggie’s writing only a few years ago when I read her amazing book ‘Dadland’, which won the Costa Book Awards Biography Prize in 2016. Read this review in The Guardian to get an excellent feel for this ‘original, moving book’.

But today was about Keggie’s latest non-fiction book, ‘Beastly – a new history of animals and us’, which is long-listed for the 2023 James Cropper ‘Wainwright Prize for writing on Conservation’. Toppings Bookshop in Bath have regular events where authors can meet readers. It seems to be a wonderful bookshop with a massive and eclectic selection. I shall return.

About thirty readers sat down to listen to Richard Kerridge talk with Keggie, and to hear several selections from the book pertinent to the discussions. Richard is the Creative Director of a very well regarded creative writing course at Bath University, and he has a keen interest in ecology and the environment, as well as Keggie’s books I’ve now learnt. 

JT gave me a seat next to Pip in the front row, so my picture was one of a couple I had to take very discretely, so as not to disturb the conversation. Keggie is reading a passage from the book. in the mioddle of the discussions.