A Financial Times best summer book of 2025
'Spellbinding,' Christopher Wilson, Daily Express
'Well worth reading.' Carola Huttmann, Bookmunch
Wildly different is an urgent, timely and original study of five pioneering women who fought for the right to explore and protect the wild. Sarah Lonsdale writes from the heart, and nothing has brought home to me with more force the relationship between gender and the natural world. Frances Wilson, author of The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth
Sarah Lonsdale powerfully and vividly reconstructs the lives of these brave, norm-defying women who, like too many, have been left out of our stories of adventure and the wild. A thrilling and ultimately triumphant read. Kate Zernike, author of The Exceptions
Drawing from their notes, maps, correspondence and memoirs, Sarah Lonsdale tells the stories of five courageous, wildly different women and the oneness they all experienced after overcoming physical and societal boundaries, to reach some of the most remote, wild and beautiful places on our planet. That these spaces are still contested for women is a travesty, but this inspirational book will embolden new generations of women to reclaim their places in the wild. Heartfelt, uplifting and utterly compelling, I could not put this book down. Brigit Strawbridge Howard, author of Dancing with Bees
'Its a deeply felt, splendidly told, long overdue celebration of five wild, witty and wise voices who make a compelling case, now as then, for conservation, compassion and community.' Dan Richards, author of Climbing Days
'Thoughtfully and carefully put together, Wildly Different introduces the reader to five women who fought for, and ultimately shaped, the world in which we live today. The book is full of exhaustive research and fascinating stories and, no doubt, these incredible women will stay with you long after youve put the book down.' Rebecca Smith, author of Rural
'Wildly Different does for outdoor women, what Tessa Boase's Etta Lemon did for the women of the RSPB: the energy, determination and tenacity of these five wonderful women, in the face of what they were told they could not and should not do, is extraordinary. Sarah's vivid, cinematic writing and deep research brings them freshly and urgently alive, to galvanise us for these times, and the times to come. Brilliant and gleaming.' Nicola Chester, author of Ghosts of the Farm
'The women themselves are certainly interesting and largely unknown, except for Nobel Peace Prizewinner Maathai, making this a worthy choice for environmental and womens history collections.' Colleen Mondor, Booklist
'Lauding five ecology-minded women leaders, the enlightening biographical compilation Wildly Different shows how its subjects turned their passion for the environment and science into grand legacies.' Katy Keefer, Foreword Reviews -- .
