A joyous journey into the night and a promise that by paying close attention to the life teeming there, we can find a restorative balm for the soul.

Night Magic is a glorious celebration of the dark New York Times bestselling nature writer Leigh Ann Henion makes the case for embracing night as a profoundly beautiful part of the world we inhabit--and she invites us to leave our well-lit homes and step outside. It turns out we don't have to go far: We are surrounded by animals that rise with the moon, gigantic moths, and nocturnal blooms that reveal themselves, incrementally, as light fades. In her quest to know darkness with greater intimacy, she travels through forests alight with bioluminescent mushrooms and mountain valleys teeming with migratory salamanders. She ventures into the dark alongside naturalists, biologists, primitive-skills experts, and others who've dedicated their lives to cultivating relationships with darkness and the creatures who depend on it.

Every page of lyrical book feels like an opportunity to ask: How did I not know about this before? For example, we learn that it can take hours, not minutes, for human eyes to reach full night vision capacity. And that there are thousands of firefly species on earth, each with flash patterns as unique as fingerprints--one million tourists make pilgrimages to witness synchronous fireflies every year. In this age of increasing artificial light, Night Magic is an opportunity to focus on the biodiversity that surrounds us. We do not need to stargaze into the distant cosmos or to dive into the depths of oceans to find awe in the dark--when we reclaim night, dazzling wonders can be found in our own backyards.

What's the take-away from this beautiful book? On this imperiled planet, magic still exists, often in the places we least expect it.

Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark - inbunden, Engelska, 2024