“In recursive, often incantatory prose, Maclear meditates on the fragile nature of kinship and memory. A finely plotted and intricate narrative, Unearthing reimagines the garden metaphor and explores the porous grounds of self, culture and belonging. This quiet, arresting work softens the line between memoir and philosophy.”
—Peer assessment committee, Governor General’s Literary Awards
“Many memoirs have examined issues of paternity and parental infidelity, but Maclear’s stands out due to elegant writing and insightful musings on the making and shaping of identities, always with the garden behind her to provide an anchor… A lovely meditation on the hidden past and the blossoming present.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This is a thrilling family memoir mystery that really lets the reader in on the unspooling and respooling of Kyo’s family story and a series of revelations that redefine her sense of her own family and past. But really that’s just the headlines, or the outlines of what she is up. There is something else going on… Something planty, alchemical and atmospheric that has stayed with me… this is a book that made me feel alive. I don’t want to explain its plot or structure or what I discovered by reading it. Rather I want to induce you to breath in its air.”
—Jason Logan, Toronto Ink Company
“The memoir is about so much more than solving genetic ¬mysteries. It sheds light on the complexity of social bonds and offers beautiful explorations of forgiveness and the elusive nature of truth.… Maclear’s literary attempts to make sense of her unlikely path into being are the most insightful and beautifully wrought I’ve read on the subject.”
—Emma Gilchrist, Literary Review of Canada
“A brilliantly told memoir about love, marriage, hope and regret—about life. …[Unearthing explores] the burden of carrying a secret … uncovering—unearthing—more than [Maclear] could ever have imagined when she began.”
—Parry Sound North Star
“One of the family secrets in Kyo Maclear’s masterful, original and poetic memoir involves one of the most famous women in the world, but you’ll have to read to find out… A mix of literary tactics like repetition and short form sections, this unique, powerful and captivating memoir mixed with gardening and plant life, is truly a wow.”
—Zibby Owens, Good Morning America
“With Maclear’s distinct delivery, the motif of gardening that runs through the audiobook brings listeners–and the author–respite and insights. Both her writing and reading allow listeners to experience the richness of truths blossoming in the light.”
—Audiofile Magazine
“Alluring.” —The Bookseller
“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: Finding Home in a Garden
“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, Two Trees Make a Forest
“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 Well-Gardened Mind
“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
