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moonmoonbarneymcgrew's review against another edition
Pretentious style of writing overtakes the merit.
furny's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Anita Sethi was on a journey through Northern England when she became the victim of a race-hate crime. The crime was a vicious attack on her right to exist in a place on account of her race. After the event Anita experienced panic attacks and anxiety. A crushing sense of claustrophobia made her long for wide open spaces, to breathe deeply in the great outdoors. She was intent on not letting her experience stop her travelling freely and without fear.
A journey of reclamation through the natural landscapes of the North, brilliantly exploring identity, nature, place and belonging. Beautifully written and truly inspiring.
A journey of reclamation through the natural landscapes of the North, brilliantly exploring identity, nature, place and belonging. Beautifully written and truly inspiring.
lucyp21's review against another edition
reflective
3.0
I picked this up because I wanted to read more nature memoirs from British people of colour. Also the cover for this book is absolutely beautiful.
I hadn't heard about this author but this memoir is about her getting racially abused on a train and the aftermath of how she feels about the country and travelling by herself on the whole. To help her reclaim her sense of self again afterwards, she goes on a walk up the Pennines.
The first third of this book didn't terribly impress me. The narrative felt disjointed in a way that felt lurching from idea to idea, rather than it was an understandable detour in the way that memoirs frequently do. I found the little asides about what skin and nerves were a little confusing because they felt so out of place. They had nothing to do with what she was saying, apart from the fact she had written the words 'skin' and 'nerves' and felt the need to try and connect the actual physical thing back to what she was saying, but it wasn't very smooth and a little irritating. I enjoyed the part where she talked about walking is related to activism but she doesn't spend very long on the topic.
However, this seemed to level out by the last half of the book, or maybe it was because she spent more time focusing on the actual journey she was on, and considering I was with her to read a nature memoir, I welcomed this train gladly. We learn more about the aftermath of such an attack, how it was dealt with by the police and the public and how nature can help with healing, both physical and mental. I really enjoyed this part of the book, even though she still frequently took some oddly placed tangents and I am glad I read it.
3 stars!
marireadstoomuch's review against another edition
4.0
Such a calming read, it left me wanting to walk out to nature. Though her journey starts in a hate crime and questions of belonging/not belonging, it is also fundamentally about openness, love, and valuing one another, including centrally the natural world. Weaving together science, immigration history, natural history, memoir, and other genres, the book as a whole is a means of processing where we are and where we should go next.
trishd's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ebook ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I Belong Here is an emotional, informative memoir looking at what it means to belong. Anita Sethi set out to walk the Pennine Way following a race hate crime on a train. Sethi's physical exploration of Northern Britain is beautifully described and as someone that also takes great solace in walking amongst nature I found a lot of comfort in these pages. There is a blend of travel writing, natural history, social justice and psychology. This was especially helpful to read whilst also suffering with anxiety. I found myself remembering the advice Sethi repeated to herself and applying it to my life. It was one of those books that I just happened to read when I really needed it. Definitely recommend!
I Belong Here is an emotional, informative memoir looking at what it means to belong. Anita Sethi set out to walk the Pennine Way following a race hate crime on a train. Sethi's physical exploration of Northern Britain is beautifully described and as someone that also takes great solace in walking amongst nature I found a lot of comfort in these pages. There is a blend of travel writing, natural history, social justice and psychology. This was especially helpful to read whilst also suffering with anxiety. I found myself remembering the advice Sethi repeated to herself and applying it to my life. It was one of those books that I just happened to read when I really needed it. Definitely recommend!
suebarsby's review against another edition
3.0
This isn’t your usual walking book. Instead Anita Sethi uses walking to help herself come to turns with her own experience as a British person of colour. Sethi’s parents came to Manchester as a result of the activities of the British empire, yet she has never been made to feel as if she should belong here, despite being Manc born. Following an appalling racist attack on a train and then the sudden death of her friend, Sethi decides to walk through the North to try and make sense of what it means to belong, to be a British northerner. It is obvious that she has a lot to deal with. What makes the book interesting is the complete difference in perspective that we get, how people’s attention to her skin colour has made so many of her life experiences different and often hostile. There is a telling example of comments made to her by Prince Charles when she met him at a function, and following the Harry/ Meghan interview this week nothing he said really comes as a surprise.
Sethi attempts to join her theme of belonging, culture and race with that of destruction of the environment which is less successful than the race aspect, nevertheless, this is a fascinating book, telling one woman’s truth and deserves to be read.
Sethi attempts to join her theme of belonging, culture and race with that of destruction of the environment which is less successful than the race aspect, nevertheless, this is a fascinating book, telling one woman’s truth and deserves to be read.
bobthebookerer's review against another edition
4.0
I love writing about nature journeys, and I love political writing about identity, race and belonging, and this book is a fantastic combination of the two.
Starting with a racist attack on a train and the death of a close friend, Sethi details how this formed part of her decision to follow the Wainwright trail through the Pennines to Hadrian's Wall.
What follows is a beautiful, intriguing and luscious journey through nature, as Sethi reflects on how the natural world and the environment interact with notions of identity, belonging, nationhood, language and place. This becomes even more poignant when she starts reflecting on the racist attack and her friend's death, and how her walk through nature provides not only the mental break needed to process them, but also the numerous interactions with the people on her trip. Relying on the kindness of strangers allows her to begin to ease into her skin again, and feel a sense of belonging, and she describes beautifully how people of colour have a longer history in the UK than people often think, which responds excellently to her attacker, and you get the feeling that she is winning out by writing this.
Her investigations into language and its connection to place are also fascinating. She weaves beautiful patterns between words used for natural phenomenon, like "fell", "force" and "scar", and their relationships to violence, and it feels like cathartic release as she details their definitions and applications in both worlds.
It took me a little bit to get into the book, partly because I found the introductory section especially jarring. This was because it essentially gave a synopsis of the book in what felt like a rushed sprint through the entire plot and journey, never lingering long enough on anything, so that when the book began properly, the power of some of the earlier moments felt weakened. This meant that the beginning did not seem to strike much of a balance between the discussions of identity and the descriptions of environment, and felt as if it flitted between both.
That said, once Sethi herself settles into the walking journey itself, the book fittingly settles into an even and powerful rhythm that drives this beautiful and important book forward, and it reaches a conclusion that is heartwarming, poignant, powerful and empowering.
I received an advance copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Starting with a racist attack on a train and the death of a close friend, Sethi details how this formed part of her decision to follow the Wainwright trail through the Pennines to Hadrian's Wall.
What follows is a beautiful, intriguing and luscious journey through nature, as Sethi reflects on how the natural world and the environment interact with notions of identity, belonging, nationhood, language and place. This becomes even more poignant when she starts reflecting on the racist attack and her friend's death, and how her walk through nature provides not only the mental break needed to process them, but also the numerous interactions with the people on her trip. Relying on the kindness of strangers allows her to begin to ease into her skin again, and feel a sense of belonging, and she describes beautifully how people of colour have a longer history in the UK than people often think, which responds excellently to her attacker, and you get the feeling that she is winning out by writing this.
Her investigations into language and its connection to place are also fascinating. She weaves beautiful patterns between words used for natural phenomenon, like "fell", "force" and "scar", and their relationships to violence, and it feels like cathartic release as she details their definitions and applications in both worlds.
It took me a little bit to get into the book, partly because I found the introductory section especially jarring. This was because it essentially gave a synopsis of the book in what felt like a rushed sprint through the entire plot and journey, never lingering long enough on anything, so that when the book began properly, the power of some of the earlier moments felt weakened. This meant that the beginning did not seem to strike much of a balance between the discussions of identity and the descriptions of environment, and felt as if it flitted between both.
That said, once Sethi herself settles into the walking journey itself, the book fittingly settles into an even and powerful rhythm that drives this beautiful and important book forward, and it reaches a conclusion that is heartwarming, poignant, powerful and empowering.
I received an advance copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
margaret21's review against another edition
4.0
Sethi in a British born woman of colour, and as such as had her share of racial abuse. But a particular incident while travelling by rail, which resulted in a conviction for the abuser prompted her to plan and execute a journey along the backbone of England - the Pennine Way. This was for her, an inexperienced walker, a journey of healing and a time for reflection. It also became an extended metaphor fr her feelings about her status as British person from an ethnic minority. the Pennines as 'backbone', of 'making your own path', of 'ruggedness and strength', of laws which protect landscapes and humans .. and so on. She muses on community, on history, on legislation as she walks an area I know well, and gave me, a white person with roots in this part of the country, plenty to think about. I'll be interested in how the rest of the proposed trilogy develops.
katyrbw's review against another edition
3.0
disappointed that this really interesting and moving book was so let down by uhhhh not being written very well! would have been a much better series of speeches, articles, or essays, i think
bigbeardedbookseller's review against another edition
4.0
When I first started this book I found the description of the racial assault and bereavement of a close friend so heartbreaking and being in a very sensitive personal space at the time I had to put it down to digest and flow through me.
I remember Anita tweeting what was happening on the Transpennine train at the time and was horrified but also heartened by the support that was shown on social media and was so pleased when I heard that this journey and exploration was going to be made.
I Belong Here traces not just the exploration of the North of Britain, but the exploration of the meaning of belonging. Belonging in both space and time, how we coexist with others and nature and the importance of this coexistence. How people have come to different places through time, exploitation, migration, and colonialism.
The meaning of trauma was also explored and Anita looked at how a reconnection with nature is becoming a recognised way of healing different mental health conditions, of bolstering resilience and of relieving anxiety.
The mix of the personal and the historical, the meandering prose often following the meandering of water, the comparisons of words used in the description of the body and the description of landscape gives the book a tone different from the usual travel/nature books but that tone is important. That tone is one of self-discovery, self-knowledge, and a return to self in the face of othering.
A wonderful read and I’m really looking forward to the next two of the series
I remember Anita tweeting what was happening on the Transpennine train at the time and was horrified but also heartened by the support that was shown on social media and was so pleased when I heard that this journey and exploration was going to be made.
I Belong Here traces not just the exploration of the North of Britain, but the exploration of the meaning of belonging. Belonging in both space and time, how we coexist with others and nature and the importance of this coexistence. How people have come to different places through time, exploitation, migration, and colonialism.
The meaning of trauma was also explored and Anita looked at how a reconnection with nature is becoming a recognised way of healing different mental health conditions, of bolstering resilience and of relieving anxiety.
The mix of the personal and the historical, the meandering prose often following the meandering of water, the comparisons of words used in the description of the body and the description of landscape gives the book a tone different from the usual travel/nature books but that tone is important. That tone is one of self-discovery, self-knowledge, and a return to self in the face of othering.
A wonderful read and I’m really looking forward to the next two of the series