The Secret Life of Fungi

_____ Fungi are not like us - they are entirely, magically, something else. 'A lyrical, fascinating exploration of this weird organism'Scottish Field 'A memoir oozing with wonder' Waterstones.com Welcome to the astonishing secret world of fungi _____ Fungi can appear anywhere, from desert dunes to frozen tundra. They can invade our bodies and thoughts; live between our toes or our floorboards; they are unwelcome intruders or vastly expensive treats; symbols of both death and eternal life. But despite their familiar presence, there's still much to learn about the eruption, growth and decay of their interconnected world. Aliya Whiteley has always been in love with fungi - from a childhood taking blurry photographs of strange fungal eruptions on Exmoor to a career as a writer inspired by their surreal and alien beauty. This love for fungi is a love for life, from single-cell spores to the largest living organism on the planet; a story stretching from Aliya's lawn into orbit and back again via every continent. From fields, feasts and fairy rings to death caps, puffballs and ambrosia beetles, this is an intoxicating journey into the life of extraordinary organism, one that we have barely begun to understand. _____ 'A short charming guide to all things shroomy, stretching from the author's lawn, into orbit and back again, via every continent'Gardens Illustrated 'Utterly delightful'Plantlife 'Accessible, inviting and revelatory... Aliya Whiteley animates the hidden world of fungi in prose as rich and beautiful as the strange organisms she turns her attention to.' Alice Tarbuck, author of A Spell in the Wild

Aliya Whiteley grew up in North Devon and developed an early passion for walking and observing nature. She has written about the natural world for Mental Floss and in her fiction, which has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award among others. Whiteley's novella The Beauty depicted a future world in which a fungus interacts with humanity and creates a new form of life, leading readers all over the world to send her photographs and articles relating to mushrooms. Her new novel, Greensmith (2020), deals with seed banks and viruses and the current global threat to diversity. She walks through the woods and fields around her home in West Sussex every day, taking inspiration from the hidden worlds around her..