What a brilliant way to kick off Independent Bookshop Week 2025! We were absolutely delighted to welcome the fabulous Exeter-based science communicator Sophie Pavelle to The Bookery. She was joined in conversation by the equally brilliant Marianna Brown—author, environmental journalist, and friend of the Bookery, having visited us back in March to talk about her book The Shetland Way.

This time, Marianna returned to chair a vibrant, fascinating (and occasionally squirm-inducing!) discussion with Sophie about her brand-new book To Have or To Hold. Let’s just say, it was not your average evening of literary chat—unless your average evening includes parasites, Sexy Orchids, and the social lives of Sunfish.

Sophie’s first book Forget Me Not—a heartfelt and humorous journey through Britain’s endangered species—won the People’s Book Prize for Non-Fiction in 2023, and rightly so. It was Marianna who kicked off the evening with a nod to that success, before inviting Sophie to read from her new work. Before diving into the science, Sophie gave us a peek behind the curtain with A Note on the Cover Design, a rare (and rather lovely) prologue in which she explains how she collaborated with designer Jasmine Parker. The result? A cover as striking and vivid as the intricate, sometimes uncomfortable, and always fascinating relationships that fill the pages within.

Because To Have or To Hold isn’t just a title—it’s a question. A challenge. A call to pay closer attention to the fragile, hidden bonds that hold ecosystems together. Symbiosis, as Sophie reminds us, is all around us. It regulates ecosystems, boosts resilience, and holds together the very fabric of life—whether we notice it or not.

Cue: Parasites. Turns out, about 50% of all animal life depends on parasitism in some way—who knew? Sophie describes them as “a cunning blend of bargaining and exploitation in the name of survival.” They might not be cute, but they’re crucial. From there, the conversation took off. Marianne admitted that the barnacle featured in Sophie’s book had made her skin crawl. Sophie then explained that this barnacle isn’t just gross—it’s clever. Like a fungal puppet master, it convinces its host, the humble Shore Crab, to care for it like it’s one of its own. In return, it does just enough to keep the crab alive. Kind of horrific. Kind of genius. Very much nature.

We also learned about the Mint Sauce Worm, the Narrow-Headed Ant, the Hairworm, and yes—the Ocean Sunfish, the world’s biggest bone fish. Sophie revealed there are only five people on Earth who study Sunfish full-time—and yes, they’ve formed a little club. We imagine the meetings are as wonderfully weird as the fish themselves.  What really shone through the evening was Sophie’s ability to bring warmth, humour, and adventure to science. Having studied Zoology at Bristol under a world-renowned expert in parasitology, Sophie is on a mission to make science more accessible—and more human. To have or to hold is a warning as much as a celebration: these relationships are under threat from climate change and biodiversity loss. If they collapse, so do we.

The evening ended with a lively Q&A, thoughtful questions from our audience, and a lovely signing session where Sophie chatted with customers, signed books, and shared more of her infectious enthusiasm. A huge thank you to Sophie for making us laugh, squirm, and think differently about nature—and to Marianna for chairing with warmth, wit and insight. We’re so lucky to have had them both.

And yes, in case you were wondering, we do have signed copies of To Have or To Hold and Forget Me Not available in-store and online HERE. Come and grab one while they last—we suspect they’ll be flying off the shelves faster than a Sunfish spotting!