In 2021, Ruby Free, 21, got her dream job working on an RSPB reserve. But this position wasn’t for the faint hearted – it meant moving to live on Rathlin Island, off the County Antrim coast. One of the wildest and most biodiverse corners of the UK and Ireland, to Ruby, who had grown up in the south-west of England, it felt both thrilling and very far from home.

Ruby thought she knew what wildness was but arriving on the island alongside a quarter of a million seabirds, her perception of it changed forever. From swimming with seals and late-night trips to hear the call of the corncrake, to spotting dolphins from her front door and getting to know some very special seabirds, this is the story of Ruby’s time on Rathlin. It’s also the story of what happened next – how Ruby took everything she’d learned through living on the island to the following stage of her life.

Heartfelt, impassioned and full of joy, Rathlin, A Wild Life is a love letter to the island and the wildlife Ruby finds there, but it’s also a call to action; a reminder of everything we stand to lose if we don’t change.

Endorsements:

Megan McCubbin, Wildlife Broadcaster and Zoologist
This book highlights the pure joy of experiencing nature but is expertly balanced with
the reality that we could, and are, losing the battle to protect it.

Professor John Barry, Queen’s University
We cannot save that which we neither know about nor love, and Rathlin, A Wild Life
shows us how to do both.

Chris Packham, Writer, Naturalist and Broadcaster
Colourful and exuberant and full of energy – a great celebration of life, Ruby’s and
the planets.

Robert MacFarlane, Writer
Rathlin, A Wild Life is a joyous, heartfelt account of a life transformed, of making
an island home—and of learning what it means to live with, love and care for the
more-than-human world. Free’s prose sings and zings with an open-hearted passion
for nature, people and place.

Liz Bonnin, Broadcaster and Biologist
An ode to a very special island and its dizzying array of wildlife written from the heart,
and impassioned reminder to take better care of our planet and each other.

Jill Taylor, Puffin Scientist
The way Ruby writes about wildlife is so beautiful, reflective and poetic. She has a
keen personal insight that could only come from someone who deeply cares for and
appreciates nature. I loved it.