The Friendship of Nature

Published in 1894, the same year as John Muir's "The Mountain of California", Wright's "The Friendship of Nature" helped to launch the back-to-nature movement that swept America at the turn of the century. Grounded in ornithology and botany, informed by classical mythology and the experience of women, and based on the premise that human beings are intimately connected to the landscapes in which they live and work, this piece of American nature writing challenged readers to appreciate the land on a local, personal and familiar level - to rediscover the beauty and complexity of their own backyards.