More Than Meets the Eye: Exploring Nature and Loss on the Coast of Maine

As the title declares, this is "more than meets the eye." The author fell in love with Maine as a child, then became a "city girl" who returned to the peace and tranquility she'd known in childhood, as she attempted to come to grips with the loss of both her mother and brother, in relatively short order. This poignant and intense personal journey details, in rich language, how the totally different focus and pace of life in Maine helped her not only come to grips with the losses, but to appreciate the grand cyclicity of life and of existence itself. She makes numerous discoveries about nature, and its unpredictability, which never would have been learned in even the most "naturalized" of city parks.The book is broken into numerous individual sections, which each stands on its own as a testament to resilience and learning-through-doing. I did find it necessary to put the book down after each one, to absorb and experience the feelings that were evoked. Trying to speed-read through this in an intense single sitting would lose much of the essence of the story being told; this is to be savored, one chapter-sized bite at a time.

I first became familiar with Margie Patlak’s work through environmental and medical articles in the newspaper and essays on her website. Her writing captivated me and so I was thrilled when she published her book, More Than Meets The Eye. In this book she has compiled years of her experience in scientific analysis, knowledgeable references, observation of nature, and lifelong relationships all resulting in universal expressions of love and loss. She expertly manages to intertwine and concurrently juxtapose the magic and fragility of changing nature with its enduring permanence and, at times, brutal reality. Similarly she weaves together the thread of poignant experiences of the life and death of family members, particularly, her mother and older brother. All of this beautiful narrative is set in a spot of Maine, Schoodic Peninsula, sacred to many of us who live and travel there. If you do not know this geographic area, as you read, you will be transported to a very special place that Margie has captured in her writing.Most valuable to me, this book teaches the process of mindfulness for our physical and spiritual surroundings and our relationships both present and memorialized.

I have spent hours walking the shore of Lake Michigan. It is the place I go to think, to grieve, to celebrate the bounty and beauty nature gives with such abandon and the place I say aloud the name of my son, who has been gone from me now almost 8 years. While this is my home shore, I have also walked along the ocean in Maine and California, in Canada and Panama and other coasts where the sound of waves and the endless horizon bring me to inner peace and balance. So when I came across Margie Patlak’s book More Than Meets The Eye, Exploring Nature and Loss on the Coast of Maine I couldn’t wait to sit down with a cup of tea and begin my journey with her. The book did not disappoint. In fact, I have savored her nature-based insights on grieving and carried her words with me to think about as I walk my own shore of mourning. She also clearly knows her science and I appreciated the way she opened such interesting facets of nature and connected them to my inner dialogue. I highly recommend this book.

More Than Meets the Eye is a love song from the author, Margie, to nature, the state of Maine and the memories of her deceased Mother and Brother. She details her thoughts and experiences in prose the flows and at times is almost poetic. I love her scientific mind and the detail she is able to enrapture the reader with her narrative. I have never been to Maine, but feel I now know a sense of the ebb and flow of the tides there and a detailed picture of some os the plants and animals living there. I found myself treasuring some of the moments I shared with Margie's book I would often read it before bed finding peace in her words and a sense of blissful tranquility. Thank you, Margie, for your literary efforts and the genius and sensitivity that inspired it.

I delighted in every page of this book full with vivid descriptions of nature that were both intriguing and comforting as I got a glimpse into aspects of the outdoors I have not experienced myself. Margie Patlak has a way with words to make the most complex scientific wonders of nature accessible and fascinating for any reader. This book also puts a most refreshing lens on human life experiences, patterns, emotions, relationships, loss and milestones. Anybody searching for rich content to inspire away from of our screens and to-do lists should really read this book!!

More Than Meets The Eye is a beautifully written book by Margie Patlak, a science writer who describes her experiences in coastal Maine, and ties her love of nature with the loss of her beloved mother and brother. The descriptions of Maine, the flora and fauna, and the natural beauty there are fascinating. The author discovers the significance of nature and ties it to the cycles of life and death. I was deeply moved and inspired by this lovely book and would highly recommend it.

More Than Meets the Eye: Exploring Nature and Loss on the Coast of Maine was the most interesting book I’ve read in a long time. Ms. Patlak took her deep understanding of natural science and wove it together with the many happy and sad events in her life. These events have happened to many of us and she combines science and life events to help the reader tie them all together. Kudos to Ms. Patlak on a story so well told.

This book was beautifully written! The personal stories with the shoreline descriptions made me want to take a walk along the coast and contemplate life.