A Slow Passion: Snails, My Garden and Me

by Ruth Brooks

When BBC Radio 4's Material World programme announced a search for the UK's top amateur scientist, little did anyone expect that the winning experiment would comprise one of our humblest garden pests. Ruth Brooks posed this Do snails have a homing instinct? The nation was gripped by the unexpected thesis and by Ruth's online diaries, which catalogued her trials and tribulations as she got to grips with these slimy little gastropods.A Slow Passion is Ruth's story, with anecdotes and misadventures galore. What starts out as a ruthless vendetta against the snails that are decimating her hostas becomes a journey of discovery into the whys and wherefores of snail life. When Ruth dumps a group of the worst offending snails in a far-off wood, she decides to paint their shells with nail varnish, just to see what happens. And guess what, they come back home. This is the beginning of an obsession that sees the grandmother-turned-scientist prowling about and pouncing on the snails in her garden, sneaking off on night-time missions to repatriate bucketloads of painted snails, reading up on the sex-life of snails (which turns out to be unexpectedly romantic) and, eventually, sending off the application to a national competition for home science. With charming illustrations, A Slow Passion is a sweet, funny and surprising investigation into the hidden life of snails, which will change the way you look at the smaller (and slower) things in life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Ruth Brooks worked as a home tutor for thirty-five years, supporting challenging and disadvantaged children and enabling them to uncover their hidden talents.
Her interest in science remained dormant until her seventieth year; in 2010, inspired by her snails, she entered a talent search on Radio 4 called 'So You Want to be a Scientist?' and was awarded the title BBC Amateur Scientist of the Year.
She loves the countryside, walking by the sea and, most of all, playing with her grandchildren.
She lives in Devon.

Reviews

[Susanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A professional review that I read before purchase declared this book to be "a hymn to a glorious kind of Englishness." For me it held the cadence and tone of a southern American woman. It sounded like my mother whose absence is still a dull ache. Maybe there are more similarities between what shapes a rural Georgia gardener and an Englishwoman than most imagine. I don't know, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There is a quirky novelty to trying to explain to people you have fallen in love with... a snail story. I would especially recommend it to anyone mourning the loss of an admired, inquisitive, busy, strong-minded woman. Like me, you might be comforted hearing a missed voice in the writing style.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

First things first: Claire Hartigan's book cover is utterly perfect and beautiful. There are Ruth Brooks' precious, undamaged hostas and there are the nail polish marked snails off to devour them.

I'd heard about the snail homing research project which won an award, and this is a personal account of that project and what led to it. I had the sense of the words being dragged out of her, it was somehow not as smooth a read as I had anticipated, it's not "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating", but enjoyable all the same and very realistic about scientific endeavour and her learning curve.

It was particularly delightful reading about her link with a school and funniest of all was the later incident on the train, en route to the World Snail Racing Championships.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a big fan of snails, This was a wonderful book. Thank you Ruth!

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

SNAILS

[Marjie C-O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly charming, extremely illuminating. Gets bogged down a bit when she begins her "science project," the ultimate results of which are nevertheless of great interest on their face as well as important for the species. For the most part, really lovely in its enthusiasm and British sensibility. Recommended for gastropod enthusiasts, for sure.

[Rivqa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a delightful, easy read; part citizen science report; part gardener's memoir. It gives the sense that with some curiosity and determination, science is everywhere and easily reached by anyone who cares to ask the all-important question: 'Why?'

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely charming and funny book that made me rediscover my love of snails.