The Fish Ladder is a blend of memoir, travelogue and nature writing, enhanced by fragments of poetry and Celtic mythology.
Following a miscarriage, Katharine and her 9 year old daughter decide to follow a river from the sea to its source. On the way she muses on motherhood, marriage, and family, while also searching for her birth-mother. Ultimately, this is a very powerful memoir about grief and self-discovery and acceptance, and poetically described landscapes. I enjoyed it more than H Is For Hawk.