I Can Hear the Cuckoo: Life in the Wilds of Wales

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So although this was more of a bereavement memoir than I expected and might be difficult to read if you’re losing someone (or comforting, as she finds her way through) there was a lot of value in it for me. Reading this book on my tablet through the NetGalley shelf app was a slightly tricky job, as it came out in double-spread pages in an odd font, with the next page accessed by swiping downwards, so you had to go left – right – down diagonally to the left – right, etc. I also didn’t notice it was one of those NetGalley books that’s only available through the Shelf app, which makes for a less smooth reading experience: more on that later. I often forget to read the NetGalley books I have downloaded if I have a lot of library books out but I did fill out a recent survey and it asked a lot of questions about its Shelf app.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. I gradually learned how to read it - this wasn’t my usual fare of “space opera” where one explosion leads the protagonist to deliver a stunning treatise on AI and humanity. Kiran lived in London and she recounts the horrific experience of losing her Mum to whom she was very close. Yes, I really don’t like sad animal stuff and this was on the edges of what I can tolerate but it wasn’t detailed so I was just about OK.Her words do not so much weave a tapestry as assemble a life’s quilt; each individual patch revealing multiple layers of her life and her growth. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you.

She chooses fresh air, an auditorium of silence and the purity of the natural world - and soon arrives in Cellan, a small, remote village nestled in the Welsh valleys.For me, this reads like someone went on a gap year to Thailand or India and came back spiritualising every tiny moment of it - except, in this book, it’s a city girl moving to Wales. There was an interesting bit about how her dual heritage made her more flexible and able to accept multiple perspectives. It’s a book about moving through grief and the people we find in the midst of our sadness – and what this small community in the Welsh countryside can teach us about life. After her mother’s loss, she cannot handle the psychological and mental agony, so she makes the drastic choice of leaving the luxurious city life and settling in the Welsh valley in The Long Barn cottage, her new home, surrounded by mountains, lakes, and a plethora of flora and fauna with extreme Welsh (winter) weather when it arrives. I have always believed ‘memoir’ as a genre is a tough nut to crack; it is because you have to tell your real-life (boring) story in an immersive tone and pace to keep your readers engaged - not an easy task by any means.

Healing happens, and acceptance that the expected ways are not always the best ones, especially around Christmas, the time her mother passed away, which now is the most painful season.I Can Hear the Cuckoo is a tender, philosophical memoir about the beauty of a microscopic life, the value of solitariness, and respecting the rhythm and timing of the earth. It's difficult to tell at first whether Kiran is living in Wales properly as she initially mentions spending only weekends there. This heart-touching 19-minute video of a Welsh shepherd is a must-watch and highly recommended, as is the memoir. This is a reflective book about finding friendship in the most unexpected places -and what nature and a small community in the Welsh Valleys can teach us about life.