THE Transition Town Wellington book club, Bookworms, has welcomed the award-winning author Ray Griffiths to the west country for the launch of her new book.

‘How Animals Heal Us’ was released in June of this year.

On Tuesday, July 15, Ray joined Transition Town members and guests for an evening in Fox’s Field to discuss the book. Attendees gathered for a 7pm start, bringing their own cushions or seats, as well as food and drink to add to an array laid out under two parked gazebos.

Ray expressed that the gathering was “one of the best evenings of [her] life”.

She said: “It was so unexpected, and it was that beautiful sort of community spirit of something - I mean you really just need a field.”

The text explores the author’s relationship with her cat Otter and the much broader link between animals and health, which Ray unpacks with the help of extensive research undertaken over the course of four years.

Ray said: “I'm a writer, it's a very lonely profession. And I was so struck in the pandemic by the company of my cat, and how medicinal that was.

“What I wanted to do was start with the story of me and Otter, how pets are really good for us, and the kind of psychological healing. That included animal-assisted therapy and the vitality of animals.

“The book then moves into how animals are physically healing for us, and the third part is how animals are really good role models for social healing. So how they're role models for justice and fairness.

“I feel like I’m kind of a messenger for animals, an advocate for them, to say look at what they can do.”

Ray said she hopes to return to Wellington in the near future for the release of the paperback edition of How Animals Heal Us.