Every day, in the brief stretch of time just before sunrise and soon after sunset, magic happens. Not once, but twice a day, the atmosphere is partially illuminated by a sun that’s hiding below the horizon, creating a sky that glows with soft, diffused light – opening the secret world of twilight.

Few of us truly know what goes on in those precious moments betwixt dark and clear. Circadian rhythms affect almost all living things, including animals, plants, and even microbes. They, of course, profoundly affect us too. The gentle shift in light and colour that happens during twilight is probably the most singular and important cue that keeps the natural world running smoothly.

In a world when so many of us live according to rhythms defined by artificial light, or in spaces that remove any connection with the outside, the need to understand and celebrate twilight has never been greater. In The Secret World of Twilight, author and smallholder Sally Coulthard shares her love of twilight and celebrates thirty iconic and often surprising animals and plants that thrive in this liminal, otherworldly space. From hedgehogs to hawkmoths, garden slugs to badgers, many of our most familiar animals are drawn to twilight. Birds, insects, mammals, flowers and even some fungi have complex crepuscular routines.