God Is An Octopus

By Ben Goldsmith,

Book cover of God Is An Octopus: Loss, Love and a Calling to Nature

Book description

'Intensely readable, poetic, truthful, wise and wonderful.' STEPHEN FRY 'An extraordinary book.' SUNDAY TIMES Struggling to comprehend the shocking death of his teenage daughter, Ben Goldsmith finds solace in nature by immersing himself in plans to rewild his farm. In July 2019, Ben Goldsmith lost his fifteen-year-old daughter, Iris, in…

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Why read it?

1 author picked God Is An Octopus as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a profoundly moving book. An exploration of grief, recovery, and, ultimately, hope.

Ben Goldsmith is someone I have known for years through our joint work on greening capitalism. The loss of his daughter, Iris, sent intense shockwaves well beyond the family. Indeed, I live in Barnes, southwest London, and the London plane tree dressed by her mourners for well over a year is 7-8 minutes’ walk from our home.

Ben’s attempts to come to terms with soul-searing grief repeatedly had me in tears – and I don’t normally have that reaction to books. Then, ultimately, his deepened calling…