A journey to the wild side

Bear Witness, by Mandy Haggith

by Liz Treacher, Author

Bear Witness, by the Scottish writer Mandy Haggith, was published by Saraband in 2013, but there is a passion for wildlife that shines through the novel and makes it still feel very relevant today.


Described by The Scotsman as a ‘backwoods philosopher’, Mandy lives on a croft in Assynt. She worked in artificial intelligence before becoming a writer and a forest activist.


Callis MacArthur, the heroine of Bear Witness, follows a similar career path. When the shooting of the last Norwegian bear cub coincides with the death of her mother, Callis decides to give up her academic job and devote herself to helping bears. She joins a campaign to reintroduce the animals to Norway, while secretly nurturing a dream to bring them back to Scotland as well, centuries after their disappearance.


Callis has always shied away from intimate relationships, and now her love of bears becomes another shield to protect herself from others. But when she begins a journey across Europe to find out more about bears and watch them in their natural habitat, she opens herself up to the possibility of being both loved and hurt by others. She meets lots of people who are keen to help her in her mission, but some will stop at nothing to hinder her project. As the story progresses, the stakes rise and the plot becomes gripping and fast-paced. 


This is a heart-warming journey into the wilderness and the best bit of the book is the bears themselves. Haggith’s detailed descriptions of them living quietly and peacefully in the deep dark forests of Europe are moving and magical.

Liz Treacher is a writer and teacher based in Dornoch. Her two romantic comedies (The Wrong Envelope and The Wrong Direction) are set in 1920 and tell the story of an impetuous artist and his determined post lady. Both titles are available to buy as paperbacks from the Dornoch bookshop, or ebooks on Amazon.