Losing Eden

Praise

“Did you know that experiencing awe can make us more generous? Or that all human babies, left to their own devices, will eat soil? Or that three-quarters of kids (aged 5-12) in the UK spend less time outdoors than prison inmates? Losing Eden is a powerful and beautifully written survey of the latest scientific research into the vast range of benefits to our minds, bodies, and spirits when we do things outside. It made me want to throw my phone in a drawer and drag my kids outside—so I did!”
—Anthony Doerr
 
“The questions she addresses [in Losing Eden] are at the very heart of how we shall survive what is coming.”
—Barry Lopez
 
“Impassioned . . . urgent and complex . . . Jones conveys in evocative prose the exuberance of her own rediscovery of nature’s wondrousness, a significant component in her recovery from struggles with addiction and depression . . . These vivid elements of personal experience are interwoven with factual information drawn from a wide array of sources . . . compelling and wide-ranging.”
—Claire Messud, Harper’s

“Beautifully written, movingly told and meticulously researched. An elegy to the healing power of nature, something we need more than ever in our anxiety-ridden world of ecological loss. A convincing plea for a wilder, richer world.”
—Isabella Tree, author of Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm
 
“A passionate and thorough exploration of the growing scientific evidence showing why humans require other species to stay well.”
—The Guardian
 
“A heartfelt love letter to the outdoors.”
—The Daily Mail
 
“Compelling . . . The book is not really a memoir; it’s about all of us.”
—The Times Literary Supplement
 
“Wonderfully intoxicating. In meticulous detail, Jones quests to bring us an impressive array of answers to the question of whether ‘nature connection’ has a tangible effect on our minds, and how and why it does.”
—The Irish Times
 
“Fascinating . . . Written in such lush, vivid prose that reading it—especially while marooned in a big city under lockdown—one can feel transported and restored.”
—New Statesman
 
“Jones unpicks the science in accessible, moving writing . . . Beautifully written.”
—The Observer, Book of the Day
 
“Fascinating. The connection between mental health and the natural world turns out to be strong and deep—which is good news in that it offers those feeling soul-sick the possibility that falling in love with the world around them might be remarkably helpful.”
—Bill McKibben

“Both thoughtful and lyrical, this book—which draws on personal experience, research, and interviews with experts from around the globe—offers a powerful plea for humanity to actively seek a more balanced relationship with a planet in crisis. Vibrantly topical.”
—Kirkus