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Chasing the Ghost
Chasing the Ghost
Apr 20, 2025 8:07 PM

Author:Peter Marren

Chasing the Ghost

**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN’S BEST BOOKS OF 2018**

Join renowned naturalist Peter Marren on an exciting quest to see every species of wild plant native to Britain.

The mysterious Ghost Orchid blooms in near darkness among rotting leaves on the forest floor. It blends into the background to the point of invisibility, yet glows, pale and ghostly. The ultimate grail of flower hunters, it has been spotted only once in the past twenty-five years. Its few flowers have a deathly pallor and are said to smell of over-ripe bananas.

Peter Marren has been a devoted flower finder all his life. While the Ghost Orchid offers the toughest challenge of any wild plant, there were fifty more British species Peter had yet to see, having ticked off the first 1,400 rummaging in hedges, slipping down gullies and peering in peat bogs. But he set himself the goal of finding the remaining fifty in a single summer. As it turned out, the wettest summer in years.

This expert and emotional journey takes Peter the length and the breadth of the British Isles, from the dripping ancient woods of the New Forest to the storm-lashed cliffs of Sutherland. He paddles in lakes, clambers up cliffs in mist and rain, and walks several hundred miles, but does he manage to find them all?

Partly about plants, partly autobiography, Chasing the Ghost is also a reminder that to engage with wild flowers, all we need to do is look around us and enjoy what we see.

Praise for Chasing the Ghost:

‘Peter Marren is the unsung hero of Britain’s nature writers’ Stephen Moss, author of Dynasties

‘Jolly, quixotic and ends with real poignancy’ Guardian

‘A poignant reminder to us all to engage with the wild flowers that grow around us’ i Newspaper

Reviews

Peter Marren is the unsung hero of Britain's nature writers. His luminous prose sheds light on the forgotten corners of Britain's natural heritage our diverse and sometimes bizarre flora and his quest to see every single species in the country. He is the perfect guide, leading us along the highways and byways, through wayside and woodland, as he tracks down some of our rarest and most fascinating plants. Delightful.

—— Stephen Moss, naturalist and author

Planting hunting here or abroad has always pulled in great enthusiasts. In Marren’s case it is a quiet enthusiasm, not academic, but companionable and intimate. He delivers easily all kinds of fascinating thoughts and information about the natural world… There is philosophy too. He understands that no ecosystem has a perfect moment to which it ought always to be restored. Environments change for better and worse, populations of plants and animals wax and wane. Ecology is flux. And does he find the ghost orchid? Well, he’s philosophical about that.

—— The Times

Peter Marren writes with such knowledge and affection for plants, and in such a modest and winning manner that few could help wanting to be a plant spotter in this image... If you already have the botany bug then you’ll want to read this book, and to own it so that you can dip into it in future years, but even for the confirmed non-botanist like myself, this is a very good read and one which makes me slightly uneasy about how much I have been missing by looking up rather than down and how blinkered is my view of the natural world.

—— Dr Mark Avery

A poignant reminder to us all to engage with the wild flower that grow around us

—— i Newspaper

Wonderful... This book would appeal to anyone with an enthusiasm for wildflowers or an interest in the history of natural history

—— Hannah Gardner , Gardens Illustrated

Jolly, quixotic and ends with real poignancy

—— Patrick Barkham , Guardian, **Books of the Year**

This is superlative natural history storytelling – a joyful and unexpectedly moving celebration of overlooked beauty. Marren’s mission is wry, entertaining and deeply moral too, for he shows how these precious flowers will only endure if someone loves them

—— Patrick Barkham, author of The Butterfly Isles

Peter Marren’s charming, up hill and down dale odyssey to seek out Britain’s rarest wild flowers is made truly memorable by his astounding botanical knowledge, so comprehensive and yet so lightly-worn

—— Michael McCarthy, author of The Moth Snowstorm

Here are the facts! Caroline Criado Perez shines her penetrating gaze on the absence of women from the creation of most societal norms – from algorithms to medicinal doses to government policy. Knowledge is power – we all need to know how our systems work if we want change. Arm yourself with this book and press it into the hands of everyone you know. It is utterly brilliant!

—— Helena Kennedy

Invisible Women is an absorbing cornucopia of thought-provoking facts - fascinating, alarming and face-palming in equal measures. Caroline Criado-Perez shows up the shortcomings of a world designed for men by men. The consequences of treating men as the default option, or women just as smaller men – if they get considered at all - has wide-reaching implications for everything (and everyone) from snow clearing to seat-belts and many branches of medicine. I shall certainly think of this book next time I have a heart attack, a car crash or just want to go to the toilet at the theatre.

—— Professor Gina Rippon

A blisteringly good book... never less than eye-opening, and frequently staggering

—— Bookseller

It’s a smart strategy to invite readers to view [a] timeworn topic through the revealing lens of data, bringing to light the hidden places where inequality still resides... Criado Perez wields data like a laser, slicing cleanly through the fog of unconscious and unthinking preferences.

—— Guardian

It took the writer and campaigner Caroline Criado Perez to reveal the true extent of the man’s world we live in. What makes Invisible Women so compelling is the mountain of data she draws on. Data, it turns out, matters... The pervasiveness of the problem is staggering...this is a brilliant exposé that deservedly won the Royal Society science book prize

—— Ian Sample , Guardian, Best science, nature and ideas books of 2019

Criado Perez comprehensively makes the case that seemingly objective data can actually be highly male-biased… Policymakers everywhere should take heed

—— Sarah Gordon , Financial Times

Caroline Criado Perez brilliantly exposes the appalling gender bias that underpins the collection of data and how it’s used. From medical treatments that fail to take female biology into account, to car safety features that are designed for the male body, women are the invisible 51%. This deeply researched and passionate book is the most important contribution to gender equality in years

—— Amanda Foreman

arguably one of the most important publications of the year

—— Susan Dalgety , Scotsman

Wide-ranging and vastly well-informed, Invisible Women is a book that promises to transform the terms of the equality debate

—— Sarah Ditum , In the Moment, **Books to Look Out for in 2019**

An eye-opening examination

—— Decca Aitkenhead , Sunday Times

Anyone who doubts that we live in a world designed by and for men needs to read this book, with its implicit message that even what we’ve won so far can never be taken for granted.

—— Literary Review

Invisible Women shines a light on the gender gap in data and what every woman needs to know about it

—— Joanne Finney , Good Housekeeping

Jaw-dropping… This book is a snapshot of the dangers of a world designed to fit a minority

—— Barbara Speed , i

Plain, detailed and almost overwhelming prose… There is no anger in Criado Perez's pages – she is too busy with evidence for that

—— Tanya Gold , UnHerd

Book that did most to change the way I thought? Caroline Criado Perez's Invisible Women... Perez has delivered a much needed correction: full of persuasive examples and analysis of areas from public policy, medicine, economics and elsewhere in which data have been gathered in such a way as to obscure or omit matters of most concern to women. I learned a lot

—— Tim Harford

Invisible Women… is a book that changes the way you see the world

—— Allan Massie , Sunday Times

The book’s force doesn’t derive from the power of its rhetoric – instead it’s the steady, unrelenting accumulation of evidence, the sheer weight of her argument’

—— Sophie McBain , New Statesman

Caroline Criado Perez brilliantly exposes the appalling gender bias that underpins the collection of data and how it’s used. From medical treatments that fail to take female biology into account, to car safety features that are designed for the male body, women are the invisible 51%. This deeply researched and passionate book is the most important contribution to gender equality in years.

—— Amanda Foreman

In Invisible Women…Caroline Criado Perez expounds the far-reaching consequences of the “default male” mode… She urges a realignment of priorities… [a] call to action

—— Mia Levitin , Times Literary Supplement

Ending the biases she [Perez] exposes wouldn’t just reduce inequality; it would, in some cases, save actual lives

—— The Week, *Book of the Week*

Invisible Women is an essential handbook in the fight to build a more equal world. It’s based on enough data to satisfy even the fussiest scientist and will make you look at the world in a new light. However, the style is light enough that it doesn’t feel like hard work. Read it for yourself, then lend it to all your friends, of any gender

—— Chemistry World

Perez’s analysis is wide-ranging and compelling… one of the most powerful takeaways from Perez’s book is the extent to which so much of this [gendered] bias is unconscious, such that we are all infected by it. Feminism is the process of unlearning this, but it’s an ongoing process, for all of us

—— Conversation

An impeccably researched, determined and passionate demand for change

—— Sian Norris , Prospect

The depth and scope of this book will shock you… Invisible Women is an essential handbook in the fight to build a more equal world… Read it for yourself, then lend it to all your friends, of any gender

—— Philippa Matthews , Chemistry World

An extraordinary book

—— Anthony Reuben , Big Issue

One of the most compelling books I’ve read in years

—— Josie Cox , Independent

[An] astounding book

—— Dominic Browne , Highways

A strong case for change

—— Sarah Shaffi , Stylist

Invisible Women makes excellent points about how biased data are hidden and have pervasive negative impacts on the lives of women and girls

—— Margaret McCartney , Lancet

Criado Perez’s devastating indictment is a worthy bestseller

—— Guardain, *Summer Reads of 2019*

This book is a wake-up call for us all

—— Church Times, *Summer Reads of 2019*

Overwhelmingly powerful

—— Kistina Rapacki , Disegno

Few books this year are as important as activist Criado-Perez’s data crunch into the inequalities between men and women. She finds something to engage and enrage on every page

—— Sarah Hughes , i, *Best books of 2019*

A fascinating look at the gender biases affecting our everyday lives

—— Women's Running

This book is comprehensive, well researched and thoroughly referenced with copious endnotes… [it] made me…shift my perspective

—— Toni Sekinah , DataIQ

Thought-provoking, eye-opening

—— Iona Grey , Heat

Not only a gripping but an important book… It’s funny when it’s not horrifying, deeply researched and done with real verve

—— Sam Leith , Spectator, *Books of the Year*

Few books really change the way you look at the world. Invisible Women is one of those rarities

—— Robbie Millen , The Times, *Books of the Year*

What makes Invisible Women so compelling is the mountain of data she draws on… a brilliant exposé

—— Ian Sample , Guardian, *Books of the Year*

Every man should read this book… [Invisible Women] chats, in page after steely, meticulous page, precisely how the world…is designed around men, and how this puts women at an impossible disadvantage

—— James McConnachie , Sunday Times, *Books of the Year*

Funny, exasperating and anger-inducing, there is something for everyone

—— Eleanor Parsons , New Scientist

The essential book of the year, mayhap the decade

—— Marina Vaizey , Tablet, *Books of the Year*

A staggering expose of design prejudice and an impassioned call to action

—— List

Perez takes the truism that ours is a world designed for men and backs it with evidence. Impressively collating vast amounts of research

—— Prospect, *Books of the Year*

A must-read for men and women alike

—— Hannah Beckerman , Sunday Express

This calm, dispassionate, hilarious, entertaining, maddening, infuriating narrative is a highly readable manifesto for real change

—— Marina Vaizey , The Arts Desk, *Books of the Year*

This well-researched book turns everything we accept as normal on its head…[Invisible Women] succeeds in making a powerful case for change in a non-preachy, educative style… It is not entertainment; it is a thesis – and a powerful one at that

—— Alison Herbert and Dr Phyl Hughes , Law Society Gazette

This incredibly well-researched and engaging book highlights how the lack of gender-focused data results in the needs of more than half of the population being ignored. The numerous examples cited by Criado-Perez – ranging from infrastructure to healthcare – are shocking and sobering… Invisible Women offers valuable insight into the transformative power of diversity and equality to drive better economic outcomes

—— Christie Guimond , Briefing

Such an insightful book and a good read for everyone

—— Julie Stewart , Business Times

Incredibly topical and relevant in a rapidly changing world, Criado Perez’s multi-award-winning exposé on data bias has seen her become an authority on modern day inequalities

—— Capacity

Invisible Women...is already a classic, but I can't recommend it enough

—— Sarah Pedersen , Times Higher Education

A powerful, insightful book

—— Tim Harford , Week

Compelling... revelatory... Criado Perez provides bountiful evidence of her thesis

—— Mariel McKone Leonard , London School of Economics

A huge eye-opener

—— Jojo de Noronha , Grocer

A witty, furious page-turner

—— Emma Donoghue , Week

Invisible Women is highly recommended to both men and women as an incredibly readable piece of journalism... Many of you will also find you cannot put down this passionate and informative book until you've finished it... illuminating and engaging

—— Platinum Business Magazine
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