Miriam Sharland's eco-memoir Heart Stood Still is the latest title in the Ka Haea Te Ata series from Otago University Press, a series dedicated to casting light on issues of importance in Aotearoa New Zealand today.
In early 2020 Sharland was nearing the end of a 17-year adventure in Aotearoa New Zealand. A desire to return to family and the familiar was pulling her back to her homeland, England. When Covid put an end to her travel plans, she found herself facing isolation in Manawatū instead. Despite her initial unhappiness, Sharland came to see this strange and unexpected time as a gift – an opportunity to explore the natural beauty of the home she'd known for many years but had not fully seen or appreciated. Her explorations were grounding, and she began to examine what it means to truly 'belong'.
Heart Stood Still is a record of Sharland's journey towards finding healing in the world's natural beauty, a beauty that we must fight to protect in the current climate crisis. It is both a memoir and a lyrical portrait of Manawatū. Through a series of personal essays that follow the pattern of the seasons, Sharland skilfully weaves reflections on her life and family history with observations on the native and introduced plants and animals about her; all tinged with her experience as 'an unsettled settler' in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Readers who enjoy books such as Olivia Laing's To the River (2017), Ingrid Horrocks' Where We Swim (2020) and Patricia Grace's From the Centre (2021) will appreciate the quiet, contemplative nature of Heart Stood Still.