Summertime

Celermajer’s imagery is poetic yet economical. She allows the reader to recognise the urgency of the climate disaster without feeling overwhelmed … The phrase “essential reading” is a commonplace, but Summertime is just that – an awakening.

Alice Bishop, Australian Book Review

A poetic cadence complements the elegiac tone, as complex ideas – such as the degree to which ethical humans should accept responsibility for the harm caused to other species by climate change – are expressed with a calm and clear voice… This book, in my opinion, is timely, valuable, and beautiful.

Ian McFarlane, Canberra Times

For anyone who takes comfort in the companionship of animals, the swift grace of birds, the grandeur of trees, the miracle of pollinators and fruitfulness; for anyone who dreads the silence of a lonely, sterile Earth, read this. Now. I’m begging you.

Geraldine Brooks

Summertime deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as other nature-writing classics, such as those by Annie Dillard or Robert Macfarlane. An act of communion not only with animals but with the natural world that sustains us, this book is filled with the spirit of resistance to complacency in the face of catastrophe, and is also an ode to the daily, grounded actions that add up to a realistic politics of care.

Ceridwen Dovey

Here is a story salvaged from fire, and built from strategic hope, a story of two cherished animals and the lush landscape that Danielle Celermajer hoped to preserve for seven generations. Summertime is a rare elegy. It is rich with insights from history and philosophy yet rooted in the radiant detail of everyday life on the land. Vibrant and brave, moving, yet never sentimental, Summertime is a passionate call to attend to the worlds we cherish and without which our lives are diminished.

Mireille Juchau