A lucid and compelling memoir of family rupture and repair and the power of plants to anchor us in the world

Sue Stuart-Smith, author of the Sunday Times Bestseller The Well Gardened Mind

Magnificent . . . I will never forget it

- Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love,

A mind-altering and supremely generous exploration of kinship, selfhood, memory, and the roots we share across time, space and species

- Naomi Klein, author of Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World,

Se alle

A lyrical and at times cryptic meditation on nature, kinship and the lives of both humans and plants

New Statesman

In this beautiful book Kyo Maclear unravels the knotty stories we inherit - and create - about who we are and where we come from. With deftness and clarity she ranges from meditations on memory, belonging and truth, to the earthy tangibility of the garden. Fierce, loving, inquisitive, devastating - this book got under my nails and into my heart. I loved it

- Lulah Ellender, author of Grounding,

An alluring blend of grief, racial identity and memory

The Bookseller

Three months after the death of her father, Maclear discovered they were not biologically related but finding the truth proves difficult as her mother's language and memory are failing. Instead, mother and daughter begin to tend a garden together as Maclear begins to unearth the past...

Stylist's pick of the best non-fiction for 2024

Unearthing is a masterful lyric exploration of identity, inheritance and belonging in the wake of an unsettling discovery, that deftly queries what makes us who we are, and what happens when the stability of our foundations is challenged. It investigates nature, nurture and genetic legacies, who our parents are before and beyond us, and who we become because or despite them. Both seasonal, contemporary and spiralling through botanic and genetic time, the writing is absorbing and transformative; the story will grow through you

- Polly Atkin, author of Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better,

A tender and precious gift of a book, that holds out grief like an opening flower. Deeply moving, beautifully written and delicately delivered, its story holds a profound truth about the complexity and simplicity of what it is to love, and to lose, and what it means to find ourselves within both

- Victoria Bennett, author of All My Wild Mothers: Motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden,

I could not put this gorgeous book down. Maclear interweaves her personal and family story with that of the plants she encounters and grows, subtly revealing how knowing the truth of our own stories is an essential part of navigating a world in ecological crisis. Unearthing is the rarest kind of book: at once vulnerable and precise, gentle but unforgettable

- Jessica J. Lee, author of Two Trees Make a Forest,

Complex story with delicacy and charm

Mail on Sunday

As she uncovers her family history - including previously unknown Jewish ancestry - she meditates on the nature of marriage, fidelity and familial love, while seeking an affinity with the natural world and solace in a love of gardening inherited from her mother

Observer

A mind-altering journey that challenges biological determination, while rooting family in the daily practice of care and love... moving

Esquire

A moving account of a daughter's struggle to know her mother

Washington Post

A STYLIST BEST NON-FICTION PICK 'A lucid and compelling memoir of family rupture and repair' Sue Stuart-Smith, author of The Well Gardened Mind 'Gorgeous and generous . . . a mind-altering journey that challenges biological determination' Naomi Klein, Esquire Three months after Kyo Maclear's father dies, a DNA test reveals that they were not biologically related. All at once Kyo's silver-haired mother becomes a mystery to her; she holds the story of a secret buried for half a century, but her memories are fading, and words are failing them both. Maclear does not speak Japanese and so to unearth the past, she must turn to her mother's second fluent tongue: gardening. Unearthing is a memoir written in the wild green language of soil, seed, leaf and mulch. With exquisite illustrations by the author, this is a tribute to the ineradicable love between a mother and daughter.
Les mer
A gripping and emotionally eloquent memoir about a family secret revealed by a DNA test, the lessons learned in its aftermath, and the transformative possibilities of growing plants

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781911590972
Publisert
2025-02-13
Utgiver
Vendor
ONE
Høyde
198 mm
Bredde
129 mm
Aldersnivå
G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
416

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Kyo Maclear is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and published in over twenty-five countries. She is the author of the hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017), winner of the Trillium Book Award. Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities and is on faculty at the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.