The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

Bloomsbury presents The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey read by Kate Handford

'Fabulous, a triumph, and it will remain a favourite forever.' CHRIS PACKHAM

'A miniature masterpiece.'THE INDEPENDENT

'Charming and absorbing.' THE TIMES

In celebration of its fifteen year anniversary, and including a new foreword by Helen Macdonald, this multi-award winning account of a close encounter with nature will delight readers everywhere.

While an illness keeps her bedridden, Elisabeth Tova Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence in a flowerpot alongside her bed. She enters the rhythm of life of this mysterious creature, and comes to a greater understanding of her own confined place in the world. In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, she shares the inspiring and intimate story of her connection with Neohelix albolabris a common woodland snail.


Intrigued by the snail's world from its strange anatomy to its mysterious courtship activities she becomes a fascinated and amused observer of the snail's curious life. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating reveals how much of the natural world we overlook in our busy daily lives, while affirming the extraordinary life of even the tiniest of species.


A remarkable journey of survival and resilience, this beautiful book shows how a small part of the natural world can illuminate our own human existence and deepen our appreciation of what it means to be fully alive.