Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Returning Light

By: Robert L. Harris
Narrated by: Robert L. Harris
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $26.13

Buy for $26.13

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

‘On Skellig Michael, thousands of birds appear and disappear, erecting towers, coming together in wings of movement which build and unravel over the empty sea. Often, no one else is there to stand beside me on the island. The mind wanders; links with the past are easily made; ancient ways of viewing things come alive.’

In 1987 Robert Harris happened upon an unusual job advert in The Kerryman – a new warden service was being set up on Skellig Michael, and the deadline was imminent. Just weeks later he was on his way to set up camp in one of Ireland’s most remote locations, unaware that he would be making that same journey every May for the next 30 years.

Here he transports us to the otherworldly island, a place that is teeming with natural life, including curious puffins that like to visit his hut. From the precipice he has observed a coastline that is relatively unchanged for the last thousand years – a beacon of equilibrium in an ever-changing world.

But the island can be fierce too. Inhabitable only for five months of the year, solitude can quickly become isolation as bad weather rolls in to create a veil between Skellig Michael and the rest of the world, when the dizzying terrain can become a very real threat to life.

Returning Light is an extraordinary memoir about the profound effect a place can have on us, and how a remote location can bring with it a great sense of belonging.

©2021 Robert L. Harris (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

‘A beautiful, meditative book’ – Ryan Tubridy

‘A heartfelt, profound memoir’ – Belfast Telegraph

What listeners say about Returning Light

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.