Tarka the Otter

'Twilight over meadow and water, the eve-star shining above the hill, and Old Nog the heron crying kra-a-ark! as his slow dark wings carried him down to the estuary.'

The classic story of an otter living in the Devonshire countryside which captures the feel of life in the wild as seen through the otter's own eyes. Tarka is born in Owlery Holt, near Canal Bridge on the River Torridge, where he grows up with his mother and sisters, learning to swim and catch fish, and to beware the hunters' cry. His life is one of adventure and play, but soon he must fend for himself, travelling along streams and rivers to the open sea, sometimes with female otters White-tip and Greymuzzle. Always on the run, Tarka has many close shaves until he finally meets his nemesis, the fearsome hound Deadlock.

‘The supreme writer of the English countryside.’ – Daily Telegraph 

‘It is a brave tale, bravely told.’ – Times Literary Supplement 

‘The store of incidental observation is immense, and at its best the language has emotional and poetic virtues that are rare, real, and unspoiled by any touch of sentimentality.’ – Observer 

'His book is of that rare, and particularly English, sort in which the human author attempts to see through the eyes of his animal hero.’ – Spectator