The Perfect Golden Circle, by Ben Myers

Back in March 2020, I found myself in a bookshop, buying ‘The Offing’ by Benjamin Myers. Little did I know then that this book would provide such solace to me as our world soon began to reel through a pandemic. Nature writing has offered me a new-found joy as I learn about landscape and how this can help to bring positive benefits to one’s wellbeing. I welcomed the opportunity to read Myer’s new book The Perfect Golden Circle, learning that it too was about rural living and friendship.

The story begins in the spring as the crops begin to grow and ends as the sun sets on the autumn harvest. We are introduced to Calvert, a Falklands war veteran and meticulous crop circles operation planner. His partner-in-crime Redbone lives in a VW camper van and is both mathematically and creatively highly skilled when it comes to designing said crop circles. 

Each chapter is named in honour of their next crop circle installation. Time is spent by Calvert and Redbone considering what each design should be called based on the location of the chosen Wiltshire field and the circle’s appearance from the sky. You too can imagine what ‘a cuckoo spittle thought bubble’ looks like. You will walk with them as they make the circles and feel the quiet and stillness of the pre-dawn hours as these comrades work together to produce their masterpieces. Be prepared for occasional interludes from night-time visitors, both animal and human. Each chapter ends with extracts from newspaper articles citing possible explanations for these overnight creations. Expect talk about paranormal activity. 

We learn that, executed correctly, crops are not damaged in this art process and that respect for the countryside is high on the list of the mutually agreed rules that Calvert and Redbone adhere to. I feel like this is important to a reader who dislikes the idea of vandalism to the countryside and who may not realise that crops soon recover, if not snapped. 

Whilst thoroughly enjoying the rich descriptions of nature and the landscape, I also liked reading about the developing relationship between Calvert and Redbone. Each recognises and respects the skills and attributes their friend brings to the job in hand. As the months progress and the project nears its conclusion, we get a sense of how they each benefit from this new-found friendship, albeit in a rather male, undemonstrative way. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like their reading to take them on a trip to the countryside. You will feel the dust and dirt of the wheat as the crop circle is made and you’ll pause with Calvert and Redbone when they hear the alarm call of the dawn chorus, reminding them that the hours of darkness are nearing an end. You, too, will marvel at how being at one with nature can be an unwritten code between friends, where few words are required, and silence is golden. 

Room for improvement?... Being a reader who loves to see a map at the beginning of a book and who has a weakness for beautiful illustrations, I would have liked to have seen the crop circle designs drawn underneath each chapter title. I’m sure my imagination doesn’t do them the justice they deserve.

- Bonnie 

Bonnie reviewed a proof edition of "The Perfect Goldent Circle."
Hardback, £16.99. Find it in the fiction section!
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