Nature writer par excellence Robert Macfarlane’s latest work is a treat for all the senses. In it, he visits three rivers – one in Ecuador, one in India, one in Canada; one protected, one dying, and one under threat – in search of answers to his own question: is a river alive? The result is this beautifully written work that explores the rights of nature movement and the idea that rivers are more than mere matter for human use. Drawing upon both indigenous and Western knowledge, Is a River Alive? is erudite and eloquent, intelligent and passionate, and much needed.
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane, (List Price: $31.99, W. W. Norton & Company, 9780393242133, May 2025)
Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi