Barber said: “It has been such a privilege to work with Hannah on her debut, Move Like Water, and to see how powerfully early readers have responded to its passionate paean to the sea and all its creatures. She, The Sea feels like an exciting book to follow that: a story that is once more underpinned by Hannah’s expertise as a sailor and her intimate knowledge of the oceans, but also allows her to dive deeper into the human (and specifically female) history of the sea.” Elegant of wing, making a long gliding journey north from South America, up the eastern seaboard, following the Gulf Stream, to take up residence in burrow nests on Skomer, Ramsey, and Skokholm” (islands in Wales where the world’s majority breed). A sensuous book, more felt than described, more described than explained, more painted than penned: part memoir, part journal and — with each chapter named for a creature the author encountered either in real life or in dreams — part natural mystery tour.

Stowe’s story highlights the growing body of research and a movement called Ecopsychology, which provides scientific evidence on the connections between our physical and mental health. Transporting us to how she’s felt and what she’s learned over her twenty-something years “being out there in the elements” that “creates an entirely different state of mind.” One of the biggest problems we have is we waste way much time on planning rather than taking action. In other words, it can also be called procrastination. We want to perfectly plan what to do five steps ahead. Instead what we really should be doing is to take the first step and then another and then another. Granta Books is thrilled to have acquired on proposal Hannah Stowe’s Move Like Water, a beguiling and beautiful work of non-fiction about our human relationship with the sea and the creatures who inhabit it. Born beneath the sweep of a lighthouse beacon on the Pembrokeshire coast, Stowe is a marine biologist, sailor and artist and this book draws on her research at sea as well as her experience of sailing through some of the planet’s most varied waters. The book is underpinned by a powerful environmental message, but Stowe’s argument is made through the stories she tells – about swimming with her mother as a child, about listening to whale song, about being at sea at night – all of which encourage readers to fall in love with the seas as she has, to appreciate their majesty and their vulnerability. Go, Seung-ah (March 29, 2021). 레드벨벳 웬디, 청초한 분위기…희망 메시지 담은 '라이크 워터'[Red Velvet's Wendy, Pure and Innocent, 'Like Water' with a Message of Hope]. News1 (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 9, 2021 . Retrieved April 9, 2021. Digital Chart[April 2021 Digital Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. April 2021. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021.A briny love story. . . . Stowe wistfully explores the mysteries of water as she navigates the sometimes turbulent, often rousing flow of her life. The slow pace ebbs and flows with illustrations and short poems, creating a pace that feels like the reader is out on water, constantly moving, even when standing still. Sometimes the narrative is gentle and supportive, other times it is driving, passionate and even a little frightening. a b Ziwei, Puah (April 5, 2021). "Red Velvet's Wendy drops stunning video for debut single 'Like Water' ". NME. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021 . Retrieved April 11, 2021. a b C, Ruby (April 9, 2021). "Wendy – 'Like Water' review: navigating the ebbs and flows of emotions with vocal fluidity". NME. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021 . Retrieved April 10, 2021. Beautifully written memoir about growing up on the wild coast of Wales yearning for the sea. She handles the writing about the sea and marine science itself and the beautiful descriptions of 6 species of sea creatures in thrilling ways. This book definitely expanded my interest in and enthusiasm for the ocean and her amazing creatures! I would love to read more from Ms. Stowe.

Jung, Da-yeol (April 2021). Like Water 리뷰[Like Water Review]. IZM (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 21, 2021 . Retrieved June 2, 2021. Lee, Se-hyun (March 10, 2021). 웬디, 4월 솔로 데뷔[Wendy will Have Her Solo Debut in April]. Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 10, 2021 . Retrieved April 11, 2021– via Daum.

BookBrowse Review

Lastly, the personal story underlying the biography brings rise to an allegory within the autobiographical tale. The bottom line is if you have an interest in ocean-adjacent nature writing, this book has something for you. If you want the memoir portion to carry the water (pun intended), you might be left a little wanting. However, I've seen other reviewers respond differently, so this may have just been the specific way I connected with the material.