I found this book interesting. to read about how this woman cared for the ducks. The traditions and experiences she has had over her life and the knowledge she passes on. This book told a story that I could picture.

I rarely read nonfiction but I was drawn to this book as I am interested in stories of people reconnecting with nature and reevaluating their outlook on life as a result. The author is a shepherd and farmer in Cumbria, and as such could be considered to be closer to nature in his day to day work life than most. But it is known that the suicide rate is much higher amongst the farming community than in the general population, and it is hard, often thankless work. Finding himself perpetually angry, busy, stressed and depressed, he recognises the need to take some time out to think about this.

Rebanks is also a historian, and in this book he tells how he achieved this by spending a couple of months on a remote island off the Norwegian mainland with a "duck woman" - one of a dwindling number of mainly women who spend every spring on a clutch of tiny islands near the Arctic circle, encouraging eider ducks to nest and protecting them as they sit on their eggs in order to collect the eider they use to line their nests once the chicks have hatched and returned to the sea. This is a heritage occupation in a region of the world which is a national park as well as a UNESCO world heritage site, and I found the description of the landscape and wildlife as winter gives way to spring far more interesting than the relatively not-rocket-science life lessons Rebanks draws from the experience.

Rebanks learns the power of living in the moment, and of forgiveness and of being nonjudgmental, of allowing difficult feelings to arise rather than suppressing them, of trusting women to be as capable as men. All of which he could have learnt in any half-decent introductory meditation course. Far more powerful is the portrayal of his duck woman Anna, an ageing woman who has made difficult choices based on her priorities and has learnt what truly matters along the way without ever making a song and dance about it. She is a woman of few words, dignified and self-sufficient. James is initially drawn to her because he has her pegged as a loner who escapes from it all by retreating to her island, but he couldn't be further from the truth that in choosing her path she has attracted love and admiration and a wide circle of family and friends who love and support her, and whom she values above any ancient slights and quarrels. As he puts it, she is an ordinary woman who has lived an extraordinary life.

There is also an environmental message, but it is worn lightly and I think is more effective for it. Rebanks observes in passing the plastic pollution that has reached this remote part of the world, carried by the Gulf Stream. And in telling the history of the wildlife he reminds us that man has been irresponsibly exploiting the natural world for decades and centuries - the duck numbers have dwindled significantly over the last 100 years or so thanks to overfishing and industrial fishing methods which have depleted the ducks' natural food stocks. And not only the ducks' but many other sea birds too.

Rebanks' writing style is not especially inspired - he is far from being a new Robert Macfarlane although he too is an Oxford graduate - hence the three star rating. But as an account of a man in his 50s re-evaluating his priorities, and a description of a vanishing way of life, this is well worth a read.

I have read this author’s books about farming in the Lake District and thoroughly enjoyed them. This was different in several ways. Rather like its subject matter, the book is very slow-moving, depicting the non-romantic relationships between three people over the course of a summer. It is a pleasant enough read if you are not expecting any dramas, and it is well-written. Perhaps a thriller-reader like me is not the audience he was intending to reach.

The story of James Rebanks journey to a Norwegian island and Anna who looks after the eider ducks and collects their feathers.
Beautiful descriptions of the landscape and a way of life I knew nothing about.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press UK for my e-copy in exchange for a honest review.

What a delight to read, this is the story of a spring spent on a small island of the Vega Archipelago off the Norwegian coast. Several years earlier the author had met Anna, the duck woman, on her island whilst working, he never forgot her and eventually he wrote to her asking if he could spend some time with her.
Her reply was simple, come now and bring good boots. So the adventure began.
The book tells of Anna’s memories of her grandparent and great parents living on their island, How the life was lost and then how Anna fought to get it back. Spending the spring salvaging the duck houses, building nests and hoping the Eider ducks would trust her enough to use the nests. The reason why she is now on a different island and helping to rebuild the duck houses, drying the seaweed and building the nests, then waiting to see if the ducks would come. Then when they do, keeping them safe from predators. Once the ducklings are hatched and away then gathering the eiderdown to clean and take back to Vega.
A real delight.

An extremely well written written book that took a little time to get into but it is well worth the effort . It follows James’s journey from his normal life as a Cumbrian farmer having taken a year out to visit a remote Norwegian island to help elderly Anna monitor the duck population an help them nest to save their dwindling numbers. The back breaking work undertaken for this elderly woman known as the ‘Duck Woman ‘ and her friend for minimum earnings from their harvest of elder feathers to make quilt is very thought provoking. A thoroughly enjoyable read and a very different genre for me as we follow James doing back breaking work and finding his true self on this long journey for very little to no reward in the most extreme weathers and being one with nature. 4/5

Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy.
I was incredibly charmed by this book, evoking a level of connection and love for the earth that I can only envy and respect. Full of gentle descriptions and honest truths, I truly hope that this records a way of life that won't be lost forever thanks to the mistakes of humanity

What a privilege to be transported to another country and experience a way of life so completely different from your own. These words can apply just as easily to the reader as to the author or this fascinating book.
We follow the author so closely on his journey that it almost feels like we are there on the island with him, so detailed and descriptive is the writing.
He gained insight from his experience and I believe that I did too.

I found this book so interesting to read about how this wonderful woman cared for the ducks. The traditions and experiences she has had over her life

This account of a summer spent learning about the vanishing tradition of looking after the Eider ducks, and holistically collecting their down for eider downs/duvets was wonderful.
Rebanks managed to get across the respect for a traditional way of living as it clashes with modern life in a fascinating way and he doesn't shy away from the tedium of the lifestyle or the introspection that the summer cause him.
I read this book just after Tove Janson's book about island life in Finland and they made wonderful companion pieces.

This work of non-fiction starts with one of the best opening paragraphs I’ve read in a while. I love entering and being immersed in new worlds and in this one it’s literally on the edge - the islands and islets of Norway. This is not a plot driven story, which is part of its charm. The book feels like being wrapped in and warmed by an eiderdown quilt - which is apt as the tradition of collecting eider feathers is exactly what ‘The Place of Tides’ is about. Our relationship with nature and with each other is at the heart of this lovely, gentle and quiet read which feels like taking a pause from our technology-driven, modern world.

Really interesting read about a duck woman on the Norwegian Islands and how she kept the traditional ways alive

It took me a while to get into this book but it was worth the wait. It's a story about a Cumbrian farmer and a his time with a "Duck Lady" on a small island in Norway. Anna goes every year to monitor the duck population and help them make nests so they can hatch their eggs. Her reward for this hard, back breaking work is so much more than the couple of bags of eider she gets to make into quilts - maybe only one or two for the whole of the season. The story though is about nature and being part of it and also about maintaining old traditions. This is the story of Anna's last season on the island and it becomes a story of acceptance and acknowledgement of her life over the past seventy years. It's a real window into an almost forgotten way of life at one with the nature.
Big thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Non fiction and particularly memoirs would not be my first choice of genre, however this book breaks the mould in ways. The author meets an elderly woman on a remote Norwegian island. He becomes fascinated by the nature of her job and the way in which it defines her. so much so that he asks to accompany her on her next working season. It becomes evident that he is unsatisfied with his own life although exactly why or how is not so clear. Both the author and the woman he decides to spend a "birding" season with have jobs that consume time and energy and necessitate some solitariness. Rebanks writes his account in such a way that it is about more than what he feels is missing in his life, the emphasis almost feels to centre more on Anna. he does learn more about himself and if I have anything bad to say about this book is that he never really reveals that in any depth. However he manages to evoke the beauty of the remote setting and the inner peace that it creates in both Anna and himself.

I enjoyed this book and part way through became thoroughly immersed in it.
A Cumbrian farmer struggling with his own thoughts and life spends the summer on an isolated island, off the northern Norwegian coast helping two women, who are trying to continue a traditional way of life by protecting Eider ducks whilst nesting and collecting down from those abandoned when the chicks have hatched.
Anna and Ingrid gradually accept his help and in turn he learns more about himself and what his future could be.
The farmer narrates the time spent in an area of majestic beauty in good and at times harsh weather, battling the elements and trying to encourage the ducks to nest. By understanding what drives Anna in what seems a difficult and hopeless task, he starts to understand what drives him in his own life, subsistence farming and how it impacts his family..

An honest and magical study of the relationship between humans and nature and a way of life which may soon be lost to history. Rebanks spends a season on a remote Norwegian island shadowing Anna, a ‘duck woman’ who cares for nesting eider ducks and harvests the down they leave behind.

Anna is the kind of character who is easy to mythologise - strong, stubborn, with a deep connection to the natural world. It’s this magnetism that draws Rebanks to her, and that makes her story so engaging for the reader. Rebanks captures her world in careful and candid detail, undergoing a transformation of his own over one summer on the island.

The Place of Tides is a gentle, mesmerising read - an ode to the healing powers of nature.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

I’d heard of James Rebank and how he’d taken on the family farm in Cumbria so I was interested in reading this book and hear why he’d gone to a remote island off Norway to stay with a duck woman. He’d been to Norway as part of a group taken by the Norwegian tourist board many years ago and the memory of the trip had stayed with him. He felt a connection with Anna when he had met her. He decided to write to her and ask if he could go and stay with her while she was looking after the nesting eider ducks. She replied saying yes and to bring working clothes. They would be on the island for about 2 months.
It was going to be Anna’s last year on the island as she was now 70 and not in great health. Her friend Ingrid was going with them. It was hard work clearing old seaweed from nests and repairing them. Collecting more seaweed to line them with. The bad weather stopped them going out everyday which James Rebank found difficult. They had to use a compostable toilet. When the eider ducks eventually came they had to protect them from predators. It was a successful year although they did lose some to abandoned nests. After the ducks left they then had to collect the eider feathers from the nests and take them back to clean them, several times. The boat came to take them back to the main land with everything they had taken out with them.
It was a gentle read and interesting to hear about the duck women who do this job for very little money.
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I was asked to review this book by NetGalley. I was intrigued by the cover initally.

This was an inspring story about a "duck woman^ named Anna. She dedicates her life to a a population of elder ducks on an island.

A guy named James decides to spend a season with Anna and a friend. Anna as described has dedicated her life to keep thede ducks safe, as their popularion has been depleated over the years. Anna goes back to tradition. Anna has a real connection with nature as James and readers will discover.

Beautifully written, slow paced which helps the reader unwind too from their fast paced lives.

A trully humbling story recommended read.

A delightful read, it was a warm hug in book form!

James has given a voice to Anna and generations of ‘duck women’. The book moves at a day to day pace as James, Anna and Ingrid spend spring and early summer on the island overseeing the nesting season at a very practical level!

Anna shares with James, the history of the bird women and is honest in some of her personal reflections.

This was very different to my usual genre so the long chapters and writing style took some getting used to but overall was a gentle, enjoyable read.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.