OF TIME AND TURTLES - Sy Montgomery

Sy Montgomery will probably always be best known as the author of The Soul of an Octopus but the fact is that all of her books are beautiful testaments to nature and the animal kingdom. Of Time and Turtles, Montgomery's newest work, is another powerful book in her body of work. 

While The Soul of an Octopus really brought an awareness of the intelligence and personalities of octopuses to the readership, this current book may have more of an impact, for a couple of reasons. First, Montgomery's experiences with the turtles and their rescuers occurs during the outbreak of COVID-19 and the author uses this carefully to make some observations ("it was clear that counting deaths was the new way to mark time in a pandemic").

But mostly I think this has a greater impact because, well ... turtles. Who, reading this book, hasn't seen a turtle?  Who hasn't picked one up, maybe moved one across a road or a parking lot? Who hasn't walked along a lake shore and pointed at a turtle poking its head out of the water or sunning itself on a log?

It's hard to imagine that turtles, with their solid mobile home shells, and as plentiful in number as they seem to be (to me, anyway) could be in much danger, but Montgomery spends some quality time with a group of individuals in New England who answer the call to rescue the reptiles in a wide variety of circumstances (from being caught on a fishing hook to being crushed under the weight of traffic on a road).

There's a fine line between anthropomorphizing an animal and noting its unique behavior and personality. There are moments that we get close to this line (which is easy to do when an animal is identified by a human name), but Montgomery keeps this professional while still managing to keep the reader emotionally connected.

Aside from the great writing and keen observations, I really appreciated how much I learned about turtles - perhaps the most interesting (and shouldn't be surprising) is that being slow isn't confined to just a turtle's movement.  Their entire metabolism is slow.  So much so that a turtle in the slow process of healing itself is often mistaken for dead.  

I was not aware that turtles are "the most imperiled major group of animals on earth" but if anyone can raise awareness to this mighty creature, it will be Sy Montgomery and it will start here.

Looking for a good book? Sy Montgomery takes time to teach us of the majesty and endangered nature of an animal that likely has more uniqueness and personality than most would be willing to spend the time to discover in Of Time and Turtles.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

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Of Time and Turtles

author: Sy Montgomery

publisher: Mariner Books

ISBN: 9780358458180

hardcover, 304 pages