Speed reading: in the woods

07 May 2026, The Tablet

James Aldred has two obsessions – buying a plot of land in his native New Forest, and restoring a derelict Romani caravan. He buys the land to conserve it, sleeping under a makeshift shelter, spending his days hedging, clearing and washing in a stream.

When the Forest Breathes (Allen Lane, £25; Tablet price £22.50) is Professor Suzanne Simard’s wonderful account of the hidden life of the forests of British Columbia. Central to her work is the concept of the Mother Tree, who nurtures her seedlings through a network of roots, soil, fungi and plants, resulting in a complex, aware, ecosystem.

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