And no sign of our fox, who'd clearly been scared away. There was rubbish all across the path, scattered everywhere cans, plastic bags, a barbeque. However, one morning, when we entered the wood, we found the remnants of a party. A promise of things to come when, quite frankly, my heart was breaking. We were due to start IVF this summer, which of course has been cancelled, and seeing this young fox felt like a good omen. Likewise, a young fox who we saw every day, started to become a symbol of so many things. It is another space, yes, but always cradled by its external environment. The sirens had been echoing around the streets for weeks, so it was no wonder the birds were copying those sounds, but it was a stark reminder that the forest is not another world. While these forest walks have come to feel like our secret our escape one day we stumbled upon a group of starlings imitating ambulance sirens. We count squirrels and predict how many foxes we will see slinking through the allotments. There is a small wood nestled at the end of our street, and we've become familiar with the blackbird who sits at the entrance to it, singing his heart out at 5am. As someone in a higher risk category, it's the safest time for me and my husband to go outside. For us, that has been going for a walk at dawn. Recently, we've all been trying to find that something, whatever that something may be, that brings us some certainty, some semblance of structure. Author Jen Campbell reviews Wanderland by Jini Reddy for TOAST Book Club.

Wanderland by jini reddy