Synopsis:

What can nature teach us about living together? Investigating eight symbiotic relationships trying to survive the climate and biodiversity crises, Sophie Pavelle explains why it has never been more vital for us to understand symbiosis. Symbiotic relationships regulate ecosystems, strengthen resilience and bind pivotal connections.

Species living together in symbiosis is no accident – these dynamics evolved. Species form and sever alliances everywhere, from deep within temperate rainforests to the open ocean, quiet tidal pools or chalk grasslands, and nature thrives on relationships as glamorous as they are grotesque and as bizarre as they are engrossing.

In To Have or To Hold, Sophie relishes the interconnectedness between species and celebrates the relationships that underpin natural environments. Low-carbon travelling around the British Isles, she presents nature’s frauds, fortune-tellers, misfits and cheaters.

The natural world is built on parasitism, a cunning blend of bargaining and exploitation in the name of survival. In our relationship with the natural world, are we the parasites? Will we continue to exploit nature’s resources? Or will we vow to love and cherish what remains – shaping a more restorative life alongside nature – till death us do part?

Review:

Symbiosis: a relationship between two types of animal or plant in which each provides for the other the conditions necessary for its continued existence.

Understanding symbiosis has never been more important, and in this book, Sophie Pavelle looks at eight different relationships to try and understand what they can teach us. Symbiosis is found everywhere; in the rainforest, on the beach, even in your garden. Without symbiosis, nature just wouldn’t be.

The species we look at are nicely varied, ranging from the sunfish to ants and lichen. I have always loved lichen, but I am also now rather obsessed with sunfish, especially after they were lovingly described as follows:
“We know a sunfish looks like a bin lid with wings…” 

Pavelle is great at making information accessible. Her writing is humorous and warm – it was like sitting round a campfire and chatting with a good friend about all the things they’ve discovered. Perhaps this is because I am a fellow millennial, but the references and humour really worked for me.

The information she shared was not watered down, but instead carefully delivered and explained in ways anyone can easily understand. I also enjoyed the personal journeys and anecdotes along her travels to find the species she wanted to study.

While there is lightness to the overall tone of the book, Pavelle also doesn’t shy away from touching on the serious issues that are affecting the world and all who live upon it. Many of the species and habitats we visit are at risk of something, be it pollution, habitat destruction or the warming climate. We end with a plea to take lessons from these relationships and to heal our own relationships with the natural world.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the natural world and all its wonderful strangeness.