The Patience of Flowers
In Reports from the Valley (2020), the sequel to the widely acclaimed Andalusian Journal (2017), Stefan Brijs spent four seasons observing nature in southern Spain. In his latest book, ‘The Patience of Flowers’, he once again takes the reader to Andalusia. As the climate becomes increasingly erratic, he observes the beauty and vulnerability of nature with a pen that is as sharp as it is poetic – both deeply empathetic and strikingly precise.
Brijs seeks comfort and hope – the fundamental emotions of this journal in which nature plays the leading role. He does so beautifully. His calmly crafted sentences, when read closely or reread, reveal something truly spectacular.NRC
This is an urgent book about our changing relationship with the natural world. Nesting swallows, wild peonies, the rare Spanish fir, a wasp with the waist of a fashion model, the bald ibis dressed like a witch, and so much more: Brijs’ words are at once a hymn to nature’s resilience and a lament for its decline.
With meticulous detail, Brijs describes the lush surroundings. Lovers of bee-eaters and orchids will delight in the floral passages, but Brijs has seen his paradise threatened for years by climate change. This book demands urgency: nature’s patience is running out.Knack
