Unearthing

“In this magnificent, searing memoir, Kyo Maclear takes us on a journey that is at once singular and utterly universal. What forces contribute to who we are and who we become? And what happens when the story we know to be true of ourselves is uprooted, unearthed? In poetic language that cuts to the bone, Maclear grapples with these questions and the result is a profound reading experience. I will never forget it.”
—Dani Shapiro

“Unearthing is simply staggering. Maclear takes the shocking revelations of a DNA test and transforms them into a mind-altering and supremely generous exploration of kinship, selfhood, memory, and the roots we share across time, space and species. A quantum leap for an already brilliant and profound writer and thinker.”
—Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything

“Unforgettable.”
—People

“Poetic, elliptical…By pairing the untangling of her family tree with an appreciation of the entanglement of the natural world, Maclear meditates on our desire to impose clear-cut boundaries on what comprises kinship and inheritance…a unique take on the paternity mystery memoir, one that eschews a predetermined narrative arc for a wide-ranging exploration of what it means to be a family…generous, open-handed.”
—NPR

“A moving account of a daughter’s struggle to know her mother before she loses her…Maclear is a beautiful and thorough writer. She accomplishes moving portraits of all three of her parents, all from fascinating and wildly different backgrounds…This story is a reminder of the abundance of experience present in all families, and the power and healing that can come from honoring those many truths.”
—The Washington Post

“Maclear meditates on genealogy and family secrets in her impressive memoir… Maclear’s precise, hypnotic prose will appeal to readers of Margaret Renkl. This quiet story lingers.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A deeply thoughtful meditation on secrets and stories, race and lineage, grief and grace – all told through the narrative of the common language … tending to a shared garden. As Maclear presses her reluctant mother for answers to the questions that have blown her life wide open, she comes to realize that amid the muddled memories and half-truths also lie lessons in what it takes for new things to grow – patience, pragmatism and a willingness to accept beauty (whether in flowers and plants or the ineffable bonds of family) in all its wild, unruly forms.”
—Tabassum Siddiqi, The Globe and Mail

“Maclear’s writing is poetic in the best sense. Using the image of her mother’s wild, rambling garden as a foundation, Maclear examines these questions in detail, without proposing a pat answer to any of them because, ultimately, they are unanswerable. Instead, Maclear allows the reader to struggle with them as she did, granting her audience the space and silence to reconcile the gaps and secrets in their own lives.”
—BookPage

“A powerful, captivating new memoir.”
—Shondaland

“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

“A powerful, captivating new memoir.’
—Shondaland