Reviewed by Cynthia Ellis, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy

Perhaps you intended to keep a journal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perhaps you’ve recently discovered a deeper connection with the natural world and felt compelled to put your observations into words.

Perhaps you carry treasured memories of time spent with friends and family.

Sheila McEntee, a writer with the unmistakable spirit of the “West Virginia Chose Me” variety, weaves these impulses into her new book, “Soul Friend and Other Love Notes to the Natural World.”

Through twelve deeply personal essays, McEntee reflects on topics as varied as dreams, divorce, haiku, friendship, cemeteries, and death. Yet the unifying threads are unmistakable: a reverence for nature—and birds in particular—permeates every page.

Her prose is often lyrical, yet unflinching. Stunning accounts of bird sightings are tempered by honest depictions of decay, discomfort, and the less romantic details of the natural world.

McEntee’s writing style evokes comparisons to naturalist Edwin Way Teale, whose travels with his wife across America helped them cope with the grief of losing their son in World War II. In one of his books, he wrote of what he observed in the natural world as he followed the seasons across swaths of our country.

McEntee’s depiction of four mighty oak trees and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are especially evocative. And after all, as is noted in the final essay, “…in the midst of tumult, the constancy of nature offers unfailing comfort.”

The book also features illustrations by artist Sophie Kromholz. According to one source, Kromholz is “a ukulele-playing, storytelling, art-making and collecting Glasgow-based art historian working on her PhD at the University of Glasgow, which focuses on alternative preservation strategies for ephemeral art practices.”

To learn more about Sheila McEntee and her latest work, visit her website at https://sheilamcentee.com/