Barefoot at the Lake

A beautiful memoir of summer people and water creatures, which illustrates the formative effects of nature on children by an author who has forged a career caring for animals

'A long, hot summer's day of a book - full of wonderful stories, poignant memories and acute observations of the natural world' Kate Humble

Bruce Fogle's childhood summers were spent barefoot and free at the family cabin by the lake. The summer he turns ten seems, at first, like any other: swimming out to the raft, watching the gulls, frogs and herons, catching crayfish. But just when life seems perfect, everything begins to change and over the course of two months the harshness of adulthood and the patterns of the natural world reveal themselves to him.

Barefoot at the Lake is a beautifully written boy's-eye view of the animals, humans and landscape of Bruce's youth shot through with humour and moving wisdom. Now with an atmospheric new foreword by Bruce's son, wildlife presenter Ben Fogle, that shares his stories of summers spent in the very same cabin.

'Enchanting... Gently and lovingly, Bruce Fogle's writing highlights something we are in danger of losing for ever: that we can understand ourselves most profoundly only in relation to the wilderness' Ruth Padel