Snow Geese

William Fiennes's lyrical paean to the richness and wonder of the world around us, now reissued as part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.

Winner of the 2023 Somerset Maugham Award
Winner of the 2003 Hawthornden Prize
Shortlisted for the 2022 Samuel Johnson Prize

I had attached myself to the birds. I couldn't move on until the birds moved on, and the birds couldn't move on without the spring.

One winter, after an enforced period of recuperation, William Fiennes finds himself restless and yearning for adventure. He travels to Texas, where he begins a quest to trace the million-strong flocks of snow geese making their spring flight thousands of miles north to the Arctic tundra. On his epic journey he meets people from every walk of life, from ex-nuns to train fanatics, and their stories resound with the longing to arrive at the right place in the world.

A unique blend of autobiography, travel, and nature writing, The Snow Geese is a classic tale of belonging and the inescapable lure of home.