Wilderness: In Search of Belonging – Coming Soon

‘Wilderness is a brave and lyrical exploration of land, loss, and identity. Sanjida O’Connell’s search for belonging is intimate and unflinching. A beautiful, necessary book.’ Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, ‘The Black Farmer’

Growing up Irish-Bangladeshi in a white Irish family in rural England, Sanjida O’Connell always felt out of place. As a young woman, she uncovers a shocking family secret that fractures her already uncertain sense of identity. Years later, searching for a way forward, she turns to a forgotten fragment of land in the Mendip Hills. Together with her husband and daughter, she plants 1,500 trees, coaxes wildflowers back into the meadows and makes space for wildlife to return. As the land recovers, Sanjida traces her own tangled inheritance, finding in the natural world a way to begin healing old wounds.

Braiding personal history with the unfolding life of a landscape, Wilderness is an intimate and unflinching exploration of ancestry, identity and home. Ultimately, Wilderness asks whether belonging is something we inherit or something we can create for ourselves.

‘Enchanting … A tale of great bravery.’ Derek Gow

‘Moving and beautifully written.’ Isabella Tree

‘Important and poetic.’ Ben Goldsmith

Temporary book cover.

Read the first chapter here: Wilderness by Sanjida Chapter 1

Proofread by Joe Melia.

Typeset by Ken Preston.

Published by Hummingbird Books. Coming soon.