This story would not have been possible without the work of others far more knowledgeable than myself. Whilst not everything I learnt from the following sources made it’s way into this story explicitly, it did all inform my thinking and the world I created in my mind. Any and all errors in this story are mine.

Books
The Quiet at the End of the World, by Lauren James
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Gathering Moss, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben
The Secret Network of Nature, by Peter Wohlleben
The Power of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben
The Weather Detective, by Peter Wohlleben
Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake
Soil, by Matthew Evans
Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life, by Marta McDowell
Squirrel Nutkin, by Beatrix Potter
Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery
The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells

Poetry
Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night, by Dylan Thomas

Websites
Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk):
A guide to lichens of twigs
Nature and Pollution: What lichens tell us about toxic air
British Trust for Ornithology (www.bto.org)
Wildfowl Journal (wildfowl.wwt.org.uk)
Cumbria Wildlife Trust (cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk)
The Wildlife Trusts (wildlifetrusts.org)
The Royal Horticultural Society (rhs.org.uk)
Plews Garden Design (plewsgardendesign.co.uk)
BBC Wildlife Magazine (discoverwildlife.com)
The Wolf Watch Sanctuary (wolfwatch.uk)
Wildlife Online (wildlifeonline.me.uk)

Start at the beginning

Dedication

Acknowledgements