Kat Hill
Paperback, £10.99
Bothys are small basic shelters, of varying degrees of comfort, in remote spots in Scotland and beyond. They provide refuge for walkers, and are beloved of many. This book on bothy stories and culture, will make you want to get out into the wilds, right now.
I heard Kat Hill lecture on environmental history last year, and she made complex ideas from multiple disciplines accessible. She does the same in Bothy, which is stuffed with enough interesting ideas lightly worn to send me off on reading jags for the next year. In no particular order, I’ll now be reading Ursula le Guin, Val Plumwood, and Anna Tsing.
Hill’s engagement with the major environmental concerns we face is offset by her frequent focus on small joys. For me, this approach made positive change feel possible. The focus on her relationships, especially friendships, added a layer of warmth to this read.
As Hill is a historian, it is no surprise that she focuses on the miniature archives to be found in many bothys. Drawings, accounts of meals and starshine, plans for bothy battlements… the inclusions can be entertaining and touching. They include a note from a widower returning to a site for the first time since his wife’s death, and friends on a trek snatched during wartime leave. The feeling of a disparate community across time is engaging.
I’d love to finish this review, but I need to pull on my dirty boots and hike to somewhere remote.
(Review by Bethan)