SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2016LONGLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD 2015TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2015 Katharine Norbury was abandoned as a baby in a Liverpool convent Raised by loving adoptive parents she grew into a wanderer drawn by the beauty of the British countryside One summer following the miscarriage of a much-longed-for child Katharine & her nine-year-old daughter Evie decide to follow a river from the sea to its source But a chance circumstance forces Katharine to the door of the woman who gave her up all those years ago Combining travelogue memoir exquisite nature writing fragments of poetry & tales from Celtic mythology The Fish Ladder is a captivating & life-affirming story about motherhood marriage family & self-discovery illuminated by the extraordinary majesty of the natural world