Hailed as a masterpiece when it was first published, the story of Gavin Maxwell’s life with otters on the west coast of Scotland remains one of the most lyrical, moving descriptions of a man’s relationship with the natural world . . .
In 1957, after travelling in southern Iraq, Gavin Maxwell returned to the West Highlands of Scotland with an otter cub called Mijbil. Written in a remote cottage, this enduring story evokes the seascape and wildlife of the place where they set up home together.
‘Gavin Maxwell’s account of his life in an isolated cottage on Scotland’s wild west coast became a cult classic and was later turned into a soupy hit movie. (Maxwell loathed the script.) His glorious prose describes hills, water and shifting weather as well as the people who live in this remarkable place . . . But time has revealed the misanthropic Maxwell as an unreliable and deluded narrator. His plan was to raise otters as pets in the wilderness, and this enthralling book is in part a cautionary tale on the perils of anthropomorphism. ’ Wall Street Journal
‘In reading a book like Ring of Bright Water I feel any critical faculty I possess draining out of me, for it is a book about animals written with a sense of humour, and so, for this reason alone, I would greet its arrival with cries of joy.’ New York Times
