A review by lucyp21
I Belong Here: A Journey Along the Backbone of Britain by Anita Sethi

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!