Alexander’s writing is captivating. It is experiential, fresh, and alive, reflecting the peripheral environment where this book was born. Perhaps this is why travel writing, or at least books about place, remain as popular as ever. They give us a dose of fresh air which gives us a craving for more and more and we are not satisfied until we step outside and find something worth writing about. We have always known the stars in our skies by the names traditionally given to them from Greek mythology: Martin Griffiths reveals the equally traditional names they have long held from the annals of Welsh lore, names like Blodeuwedd and Rhiannon for the Andromeda constellation, Ceffyl-Dwr and the Mount of Rhiannon for the Pegasus constellation, Sarn Gwydion for the Milky Way galaxy — and also from the fourth branch of the Mabinogion, Llew Llaw Gyffes represents Perseus, and Arianrhod is the Welsh name for the constellation Coronae Borealis. Loved this book. I lived in Marloes, so not far from Skomer. I frequently used to cycle down to Martin’s Haven as a teen. I recognised a couple of names mentioned in this book. I think the author and her husband lived on Skomer for some of the time I also lived in Marloes. I remember the divers going missing that Roseanne refers to the book. When Rosanne Alexander's boyfriend Mike was offered the job of warden of Skomer, a small uninhabited island off the south west tip of Wales, they had just ten days to leave college, marry (a condition of employment) and gather their belongings and provisions for the trip to the island. This was the first of many challenges Roseanne and Mike faced during their ten years on the nature reserve, from coping with periods of isolation when they were the island's only inhabitants, to dwindling food supplies during the winter when rough weather made provisioning from the mainland impossible. Thrown on their own resources they had also to deal with catastrophes like the devastation of the island's seal colony following an oil spill. For a transportive reading experience, you can hardly do better than Waterfalls of Stars – I dare say it’ll be an experience you won’t forget in a hurry.

When Rosanne Alexander’s boyfriend Mike was offered the job of warden of Skomer, a small uninhabited island off the south west tip of Wales, they had just ten days to leave college, marry (a condition of employment) and gather their belongings and provisions for the trip to the island. This was the first of many challenges Rosanne and Mike faced during their ten years on the nature reserve, from coping with periods of isolation when they were the island’s only inhabitants, to dwindling food supplies during the winter when rough weather made provisioning from the mainland impossible. Thrown on their own resources they had also to deal with catastrophes like the devastation of the island’s seal colony following an oil spill. Waterfalls of Stars is Rosanne Alexander’s love letter to Skomer Island, the nature reserve where she spent ten years as a warden. It portrays a relationship with nature enthralling in its immediacy and engages readers as she cares for Skomer’s bird and seal colonies while exploring her own character during periods of isolation from the…These island sagas all carry the same message of an isolated life in the middle of the ocean, family life with no electricity, few neighbours, rare visitors, no shops — none of the trappings of modern living —and completely inaccessible for half the year due to inclement weather and unruly seas. Rosanne Alexander vividly portrays the cacophony of the birdlife, the colourful profusion of wild flowers, the enchanting seasonal arrival of the seals and the many hostile encounters with the waves. But, as with the other island authors, what shines through is her love for her way of life, the delight she takes in the flora and fauna of her habitat and the pleasure it gives her to be providing and guarding a sanctuary for the wild birds and animals in her care. With great sensitivity, and humour, Rosanne Alexander relates their experiences on Skomer, including her observations of the island's wildlife and landscape. It is an important breeding ground for many birds, and shearwaters, puffins and kittiwakes and the seals become a source of pleasure and companionship. With her lyrical evocation of the natural world and its enthusiastic and resourceful approach to the problems of island life, Alexander's book will inspire and entertains anyone who has felt the need for escape.

Martin Griffiths is well known nationally and internationally as a distinguished astronomer involved with the Dark Sky initiative especially as Director of the Brecon Beacons Observatory. His credentials, and his publications are prodigious; this new book especially endears him to Welsh hearts. In Waterfalls of Stars Rosanne Alexander shares the life-changing story of living on the island of Skomer for an entire decade. She recounts, as if there in mind and spirit, the journey to the island for the first time and becoming acquainted with it as someone with no previous familiarity with the place or true understanding of what it would mean to live in a place so isolated as to be barely reachable for several months of the year. While studying at college she meets her then boyfriend, Mike, who she has a relationship with for the duration of their studies. When he finds out about the advertisement for a warden-job at Skomer, his life’s dream, he persuades Rosanne to go with him as the job requires a couple to apply. They are ultimately accepted and get married in the spur of things (another requirement), hastily leaving everything behind to take on this new life and adventure ahead. Living on Skomer means their only connection with the rest of the world is a boat to travel from the island to the mainland, which can only travel with decent weather conditions. Their job itself entails taking care of and monitoring the natural life of the island, but also ends up busy with various tasks demanded by the harsh weather and rough reality of Skomer. They’re not well paid nor do they have access to food very easily and there was no electricity in the house then (which has changed by this point, but not so during the 1980s that Alexander lived on Skomer), so there’s many challenges in living in such a place – particularly when something goes wrong, like food supplies running out or Mike getting caught in a storm. In many ways then, this book is the testament of living in direct connection with nature in all of its faucets; often harsh and dangerous, at other times absolutely magical.An isolated island, a sanctuary for thousands of birds, surrounded by a wild sea — not the ideal honeymoon for a twenty-year-old bride, one would imagine. But Rosanne Alexander revelled in her new surroundings and remained on Skomer Island for ten further years with her husband Mike as warden. Waterfalls of Stars is Rosanne Alexander's love letter to Skomer Island, the nature reserve where she spent ten years as a warden. Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware - Waterfalls of Stars is Rosanne Alexander's love letter to Skomer Island, the nature reserve where she spent ten years as a warden. It portrays a relationship with nature enthralling in its immediacy and engages readers as she cares for Skomer's bird and seal colonies while exploring her own character during periods of isolation from the mainland. When Rosanne Alexander s boyfriend Mike was offered the job of warden of Skomer, a small uninhabited island off the south west tip of Wales, they had just ten days to leave college, marry (a condition of employment) and gather their belongings and provisions for the trip to the island. This was the first of many challenges Roseanne and Mike faced during their ten years on the nature reserve, from coping with periods of isolation when they were the island s only inhabitants, to dwindling food supplies during the winter when rough weather made provisioning from the mainland impossible. Thrown on their own resources they had also to deal with catastrophes like the devastation of the island s seal colony following an oil spill. By the end of the book, I was both ready and unready to leave Skomer. Maybe that’s what Adam and Eve felt as they left the confines of Eden? Anyhow, the reader should not rush through this experience. Stay in Skomer for a while, close your eyes, and breathe the fresh air of the Atlantic.

This was a little mixed for me - I absolutely loved the animal stories, the stuff about seal pups and puffins, goats and birds! And I loved her love of the place and that wonderful cozy feeling of belonging.Dark Lands, Dark Skies is subtitled The Mabinogion in the Night Sky. For both the amateur and the professional astronomer it is an intriguing guidebook to the changing night skies over Wales in each season. But of interest to all is his impressive research into the naming of familiar constellations after heroes of Welsh myth from the Mabinogion. Rosanne Alexander was a student of wildlife illustration in Carmarthen at the beginning of her Skomer adventure. She now lives in mid Wales, having continued as an environmentalist and illustrator. Her novel, Selkie, about the life of a young grey seal, was published by Andre Deutsch in 1992. With great sensitivity, and humour, Rosanne Alexander relates their experiences on Skomer, including her observations of the island s wildlife and landscape. It is an important breeding ground for many birds, and shearwaters, puffins and kittiwakes and the seals become a source of pleasure and companionship. With her lyrical evocation of the natural world and its enthusiastic and resourceful approach to the problems of island life, Alexander s book will inspire and entertains anyone who has felt the need for escape.

Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuthDigital Reads A Curse For True Love : the thrilling final book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart series That wonderful Welsh publishing house, SEREN BOOKS, takes us on a walk on the scenic side with two books to gladden the heart of any lover of the natural world. From the novelty of Celtic names for the stars in our skies to the adventurous wild Welsh island life—-these two books will take you far away from the boredom of an urban winter. She’s honest. Even the extensive use of adjectives is part of the honeymooned lexicon which makes this story real. She does not shy away from describing the frustrations which add to the colourful tapestry of marriage. There is much joy too and an Adam and Eve feel to the narrative; a man and a woman, isolation, a beautiful but dangerous habitat, and animals galore. My favourite has to be Wellington the goat who causes them to fall now and again! The animals are never over-anthropomorphised, but we do feel that we know and care for them. The book involves us and we are as hungry as they are when they run out of food. I was heart wrenchingly gutted when the precious pear pudding was ruined or when a bird flew in through the window, leaving shards of glass in the freshly cooked pies.