By Christine McFaul
Wild Rituals is a fascinating nonfiction novel written by Caitlin O’Connell. In addition to her writing career, O’Connell is a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical school, a behavioural ecologist, and a world-renowned elephant scientist. She has spent over thirty years studying animals in the wild and even has an award-winning Smithsonian Channel documentary featuring her work.
“We…share 50 percent of our genes with a banana.”
Never dry or overly academic, Wild Rituals is a very readable blend of interesting and quirky facts with anecdotes and observations taken from the course of O’Connell's incredible career. Having spent her life working in places and seeing things that the average person will likely never experience first-hand, O’Connell makes astute observations comparing the habits and rituals of animals with those of humans.
“I am continually amazed by how much we can learn about ourselves from the wild animals that have captivated our imaginations throughout evolutionary history.”
O’Connell neatly organizes her thoughts into ten crisp sections, each jumpstarted by a beautiful and perfectly chosen quote (seriously, her quote game is impeccable and includes words by Mary Oliver, Leonard Cohen, and many more gems!). There is also a section of stunning animal photography to help provide a visual representation of some of her most salient points.
Of the ten essays, my favourites include:
“Greeting Rituals - Spit, Snot, and other Social Grease.”
• Repositions the seemingly inane or humorous ways that animals and humans reunite as “pivotal to peaceful co-existence.”
“Play Rituals - Catch a Lion by Its Tail.”
• Details specific and different types of play that are most integral to survival. Showing how “play has been shown to foster mental agility and overall brain health at any age, and not just in humans.”
“Grieving Rituals - Ritualized Grieving Through Time.”
• A particularly moving section that focuses on Thanatology, “the study of death and the psychological and social conditions surrounding death,” which has historically focused on humans but now includes animals.
What I loved most about Wild Rituals is that rather than taking a doom and gloom approach, O’Connell infuses the text with a genuine love and enthusiasm for the animal world. She does not pontificate but instead creates a framework where it is virtually impossible for readers not to finish without feeling a newfound empathy, kinship, and responsibility for the natural world. This is the power of O’Connell’s words. Particularly timely given the environmental challenges we face. O’Connell ends with a call to action and genuine hope “for our stewardship of this planet and its creatures.”
“We have the power to protect or destroy our surrounding habitat and all the other citizens that share this extremely unique planet with us…if we make the conscious effort to save other species and habitats, we also save ourselves.”
A quick and lovely read for both nature and animal lovers. And though it is marketed for the adult market, in my opinion, it would be a great choice for teenage readers as well!
Thank you, Wunderkind PR, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.