The New Eden

Wildlife in the city, and discovering our shared home

By: JC Niala

Narrated by: JC Niala

'A nuanced invitation to see the city as a place of wild co-existence and possibility.' OLIVIA LAING
'Meticulously researched and elegantly written' VICTORIA BENNETT

While it's easy to think of the city as a human domain - a place that belongs to us alone - the reality is that nature is always present, always finding ways to thrive, even in the most unexpected places.

From the remarkable adaptation of birds to the fearless resilience of mammals, there are stories from across the globe that attest to the growing realisation that nature is abundant in our cities - and it is time to discover a new way of living with it.

Through her experience of cities, from London to Nairobi, San Francisco to New Delhi, anthropologist JC Niala is perfectly placed to offer a luminous exploration of city life - and ask what it means to live with nature rather than simply in it.

Combining memoir, social history, and cultural commentary, JC celebrates nature in our cities and, by doing so, offers a powerful vision of the future where we can all belong.

PRAISE FOR JC Niala:
'Moving and beautiful' - Robert MacFarlane©2026 JC Niala (P)2026 Octopus Publishing Group Limited

Critic reviews

'A nuanced invitation to see the city as a place of wild co-existence and possibility.' (Olivia Laing)

Original, profound and wise, this book is rich with knowledge and vitality (Jay Griffiths, author of HOW ANIMALS HEAL US)

JC Niala skilfully and tenderly weaves together history, memory, and ecology into a beautifully expansive act of care, reminding us that 'if nature keeps reaching for the light through the cracks in the pavement, then so can we' . . . An inspiring and important book. (Victoria Bennett, author of ALL MY WILD MOTHERS, and curator of the Wild Women Writers’ Salons)

The New Eden illustrates how we are all integral and entangled, and each of us with the capacity for something better, as we develop a more cohesive understanding of the natural world, and our role within it. (Louise Kenward, editor of MOVING MOUNTAINS)

Seamlessly combines the intricacies of the personal with an overarching world view of a natural world that is all around us - a love letter to nature but not the kind seen at a distance, but that which exists in kissing distance. (Natasha Carthew, author of UNDERCURRENT)

Profound, joyful, quietly radical and moving, The New Eden challenges the colonial inheritance of what it means to belong to and care for the earth we are all born onto, and turns us in a new and hopeful direction. (Nicola Chester, author of ON GALLOWS DOWN)

The New Eden is both wonderfully lyrical and precise, woven with poetic encounters and feminist narratives of resistance. It reminds us that 'nature will thrive in the most unexpected places,' and that the divide between what we perceive as wild and urban is porous, with nature achieving a harmonious balance that is also reflected in Niala's stunning writing itself. (Alycia Pirmohamed, poet)