'Justifies its place alongside nature writing classics such as H is for Hawk' New Statesman
Doreen first visited Utqiagvik as a young journalist reporting on climate change among indigenous whaling communities. There, she joined the spring whale hunt under the never-ending Arctic light, watching for bowhead whales and polar bears, drawn deeply into an Iñupiaq family and their culture amid the disappearing ice.
'Years later, plunged into sudden poverty and isolation after becoming a single parent, her career and life in tatters, Doreen embarks on an extraordinary journey: following the grey whale migration all the way back to the Iñupiaq family that took her in, where grey and bowhead whales meet at the melting apex of our planet
'What a voice! What a book!' Charles Foster
'Soundings got under my skin. I finished it in tears' Amy Liptrot
'Stunning - fresh, brave and unique' Damian le Bas
'Beautifully written, insightful and gripping' Daniel Lavelle
LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE
WINNER OF THE RSL GILES ST AUBYN AWARD

Doreen Cunningham is an Irish-British writer born in Wales. After studying engineering she worked briefly in climate related research at NERC and in storm modelling at Newcastle University, before turning to journalism. She has worked for the BBC World Service variously as a international news presenter, editor, producer and reporter, since 2000. She won the RSL Giles St Aubyn Award 2020 and was shortlisted for the Eccles Centre and Hay Festival Writers Award 2021 for Soundings, her first book.