The Outrun

A cross between Rebecca Solnit, Nan Shepherd and Robert Macfarlane, this memoir intersperses stories of the weather, wildlife, and history of the Orkneys with the author's personal story of healing and recovery from alcoholism in that landscape.

Very readable and will appeal to nature lovers and those interested in mental health equally.

On one hand this is a memoir about a young woman's struggle with alcohol and substance abuse, and her subsequent recovery, and on the other hand it's nature writing focused around her life growing up on Orkney, and her return to the island as part of her rehabilitation. The issue is that it only needs to be one of those things. At several points it felt like a really interesting book about alcoholism that someone had shoehorned a list of wildflowers into during the edit. Frustrating.

Part memoir, part nature survey, Amy describes her climb to sobriety against the stunning backdrop of the Orkney Islands.