Few writers have attempted to explore the natural history of a particular animal by adopting the animal's own sensibility. But Verlyn Klinkenborg — with his deeply empathetic relation to the world around him — has done just that, and done it brilliantly, in Timothy.

This is the story of a tortoise whose real life was observed by the eighteenth-century English curate Gilbert White, author of The Natural History of Selborne. For thirteen years, Timothy lived in White's garden — making an occasional appearance in his journals. Now Klinkenborg gives the tortoise an unforgettable voice and powers of observation as keen as those of any bipedal naturalist. The happy result: Timothy regales us with an account of a gracefully paced (no unseemly hurry!) eight-day adventure outside the gate ("How do I escape from that nimble-tongued, fleet-footed race?... Walk through the holes in their attention") and entertains us with shrewd observations about the curious habits and habitations of humanity. "To humans," Timothy says with doleful understanding, "in and out are matters of life and death. Not to me. Warm earth waits just beneath me.... The humans' own heat keeps them from sensing it."

Wry and wise, unexpectedly moving, and enchanting at every — careful — turn, Timothy will surprise and delight readers of all ages.

"In a gorgeous hybrid of naturalist observation, novelistic invention and philosophical meditation, Klinkenborg, a member of the New York Times editorial board and chronicler of the rural life (Making Hay), views the English countryside through the eyes of a tortoise and gives his human readers rich food for thought. For 13 years, Timothy the tortoise lived amid the bounty of 18th-century curate and amateur naturalist Gilbert White's garden. White, author of A Natural History of Selbourne, had inherited the reptile from his aunt, who had kept her (Timothy was a female, 'stolen from the [Mediterranean] ruins I was basking on' and brought to 'cold, manicured' England) for thrice as long. Timothy, as Klinkenborg imagines her, is melancholic, wise, resigned; her patient narration reveals extraordinary powers of observation and empathy: 'the Hampshire sky staggers me now with loveliness. Creeping fogs in the pastures. Gossamer on the stubbles. The parish rings with light. Whole being of the world distilled into a moment.' The only plot is the passage of time, and Timothy's scrutiny of life around her: humans are 'great soft tottering beasts' who, blinded by their humanness, believe that 'the language of the brute creation is no language at all.' This 'true story,' as Klinkenborg describes it, offers studied, beautiful reflections on the present and memory, earth and weather, love and utility, human and beast. This is a wholly unexpected and astonishing book." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Timothy is a disarming, original book. Part memoir, part poetry, and part philosophy, Verlyn Klinkenborg has written a natural history of empathy. Through the mind of a tortoise, boundaries between species dissolve and anthropocentric assumptions shatter, as we are led to examine and explore our cruelty, compassion and curiosity as human beings. This is a narrative of great heart and brave talent. Because of Timothy, I feel the world differently." Terry Tempest Williams, author of The Open Space of Democracy

"This is a droll and wise work of the highest imagination — and one of the best meditations on slowness, patience, and endurance I've ever read." Bill McKibben, author of Wandering Home

"Verlyn Klinkenborg, author of the wonderful The Rural Life, has imagined his way into the spirit and voice of a long-dead turtle. If only we humans were as wise as Klinkenborg's ancient female — as calm as she in adversity, as poetic in our speech, as perceptive and patient about all that happens around us. Timothy is a terrific book, an astonishing feat of the imagination, and I want to believe the grand old girl would approve even if she were a little embarrassed about the public disclosures." Kent Haruf, author of Plainsong

"A dazzling riff on human beings and their weird ways 'written' by an 18th-century tortoise... On virtually every page there is a phrase or sentence that entertains or amuses or informs... Timothy the tortoise is a splendid social critic, a keen-eyed anthropologist who sees far beyond his shell." Kirkus Reviews

"The most satisfying meditation on life and the natural world since Marilynne Robinson's Gilead." Alan Cheuse, the Chicago Tribune

"What [this] engaging reptile has to say will stay with readers long after they close the pages of this astonishing book." Carol Herman, the Washington Times

"What [this] engaging reptile has to say will stay with readers long after they close the pages of this astonishing book." Carol Herman, The Washington Times

"[A] masterfully imagined meditation on nature, biography, memory, legacy, faith and the cruelty of good intentions... [Timothy] is utterly spellbinding." Margaria Fichtner, The Miami Herald

"Fleshe[d] out with an imaginative empathy that surpasses any mere antiquarian fancy and suggests that White's stout faith in creaturely intelligence is still in good hands...Klinkenborg's book is a small gem." David Barber, The Boston Globe

"[A] gorgeous hybrid of naturalist observation, novelistic invention and philosophical meditation...studied, beautiful reflections on the present and memory, earth and weather, love and utility, human and beast. This is a wholly unexpected and astonishing book." Publishers Weekly

Exploring the natural history of a tortoise by adopting its own sensibility, "Timothy" is the story of a creature whose real life was observed by the 18th-century curate Gilbert White, author of "The Natural history of Senborne."