Books
Published books
The Volunteers
Mary Colwell, author of Curlew Moon and The Gathering Place"A gentle, warm, vulnerable book that buzzes and sings and blossoms… Donaldson shows that it is not just nature that benefits from working with the earth – the human soul heals and grows too. With lives as tangled and bright as the wildflowers in the verges, this book is a joy to read. ”
A heart-warming true story of the woods and wildlife, conservation and community, perfect for fans of The Detectorists and The Outlaws
When Carol’s world suddenly unravels, leaving her single and jobless, she stumbles upon an unexpected opportunity: leading a ragtag team of countryside conservation volunteers. At first glance, the prospect of nurturing Britain’s diverse wildlife in the great outdoors seems like a dream come true. However, reality paints a different picture: her office is a ramshackle porta-cabin overrun with mice and plagued by leaky ceilings, and the volunteers are far from impressed with her lack of practical skills.
Despite this rocky beginning, Carol gradually earns the respect of her eclectic group of volunteers, forging a tight-knit community that will grow to become essential to each member. This diverse group spans generations, from twenty-somethings to septuagenarians, with each of them looking to get something different out of volunteering, whether it’s a sense of purpose, a fresh start in life or a tick on their community service form. They also bring their unique quirks and life experiences to the mix.
Volunteer days soon evolve into the highlight of Carol’s week, as they bond over their love of nature, mental health battles, and the desire for companionship. As they work together outdoors, the team discover a simple yet powerful recipe for self-confidence, improved well-being and a newfound perspective on life’s challenges. This journey not only brings solace and new joys to Carol’s weeks, but eventually it helps her move on with her life, too.
The Volunteers is a heartwarming tale that celebrates the redemptive force of the woods and wildlife. It underscores the universal need for belonging and illustrates how, even in the most unexpected places, we can find a community to call our own.
On The Marshes
What would happen if you decided to live simply within your means in a caravan or a cabin in the woods?
It’s a question for our times. When Carol Donaldson walked across the marshlands of north Kent, travelling from Gravesend to Whitstable, she was still coming to terms with being evicted from her home and the break-up of a long-term relationship. Before then she had chosen a simple existence, living in a caravan underneath a willow tree while she worked on a RSPB nature reserve surveying wetland wildlife. Despite the frozen pipes and electricity that blew out in every storm, it was a way of life she came to love.
What begins as a walk away from her troubled past becomes a journey of self-discovery, a pilgrimage in search of people who have chosen to live on the edge of England in this lonely, beautiful waterland. She meets plot-holders, houseboat owners and cabin dwellers who are all drawn to the watery margins by an urge to escape the expectations, comforts and costs of twenty-first-century life.
On The Marshes brings us an original voice that weaves Donaldson’s personal story of alienation and yearning with others who have made the north Kent marshes their home. She explores the conflicts between marsh-dwellers and corporate Britain, between private ownership and conservation, exploring the different ways we choose to live on this tribally divided island.
"…Donaldson makes a delightful and refreshingly unconventional guide.”Ben Hoare, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Book of the Month
“…exquisite nature writing, a profoundly honest memoir and a wonderful portrait of people and places at the very edge of things.”New European
A Merry Perambulation
In 1732 William Hogarth and four friends set out from London and travelled to north Kent by sea and land passing through Gravesend, Rochester, the Hoo Peninsula and onto the Isle of Sheppey.
It was not a journey long in the planning. They had dreamed the trip up in the pub on a Friday night and set out on Saturday morning. On their return one of the party, Ebenezer Forrest, wrote an account of their travels which they printed and bound with the addition of drawings by Hogarth and the artist Samuel Scott, a map created by John Thornhill, Hogarth's brother in law and accounts by the businessmen William Tothall. Upon their return, they read their diary to the regulars in the Bedford Arms, Covent Garden, from where they had set out. The book then stayed with Forrest. Finally 14 years after Hogarth’s death the diary was first published.
When I first read Mr Forrest’s account of his five day walk across the countryside of North Kent what struck me was not how the countryside had changed but how little people had changed. Here were five lads on holiday and they were doing what five lads do. Yes they walked and drew and spent a lot of time looking at church memorials but they also ate and drank and chatted up women, got in with the locals and had a lot of mock fights. This was a jolly ramble, a reward for a period of hard work and success for the men in question, notably the acclaim Hogarth had received on publication of his series of paintings, Harlot’s Progress. This was a boy’s holiday and so, when I was asked to repeat the journey, it seemed obvious that I couldn’t do the walk alone. Wandering the countryside in Hogarth’s footsteps having deep solitary thoughts would be totally out of keeping with the spirit of the trip and so I set out to acquire a gang of fellow walkers.
A Merry Perambulation is light-hearted account of a walk through the changing landscape of North Kent. Originally published by Medway Swale Estuary Partnership in a limited edition which has now sold out.
Moving Mountains
Writing Nature through Illness and Disability
A first-of-its-kind anthology of nature writing by authors living with chronic illness and physical disability
Through twenty-five pieces, the writers of Moving Mountains offer a vision of nature that encompasses the close up, the microscopic, and the vast.
From a single falling raindrop to the enormity of the north wind, this is nature experienced wholly and acutely, written from the perspective of disabled and chronically ill authors.
Moving Mountains is not about overcoming or conquering, but about living with and connecting, shifting the reader’s attention to the things easily overlooked by those who move through the world untroubled by the body that carries them.
With a foreword by Samantha Walton.
Contributors: Isobel Anderson, Kerri Andrews, Polly Atkin, Khairani Barokka, Victoria Bennett, Feline Charpentier, Cat Chong, Eli Clare, Dawn Cole, Lorna Crabbe, Kate Davis, Carol Donaldson, Alec Finlay, Jamie Hale, Jane Hartshorn, Hannah Hodgson, Sally Huband, Rowan Jaines, Dillon Jaxx, Louise Kenward, Abi Palmer, Louisa Adjoa Parker, Alice Tarbuck, Nic Wilson
"An anthology to treasure and return to.”Elinor Cleghorn
Lay Jones“Uniquely compelling, dynamic and powerful.”
“Deeply affecting.”Tom Shakespeare
“Promises to change the landscape of nature writing.”Lizzie Huxley-Jones
