Wolves and honey : a hidden history of the natural world
(Book)

Susan Brind Morrow brings her singular sensibility as a classicist and linguist to this strikingly original reflection on the fine but resilient threads that bind humans to the natural world. Anchored in the emblematic experiences of a trapper and a beekeeper, the book explores the implications of their very different relationships to the natural world, while illuminating Morrow's own poignant experience of the lives and tragic deaths of these men who deeply influenced her. Ultimately for Morrow these are a touchstone for a memoir of the land itself, the rich soil of the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York. From the ancient myth of the Tree of Life to the mysterious reappearance of wolves in the New York wilderness, from the inner life of the word "nectar," to the surprising links between the physics of light and the chemistry of sweetness, Morrow's evocative writing traces startling historical, scientific, and metaphorical resonances.