Soil: the Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
Nonfiction
What’s inside: A thoughtful and rambling memoir of a Black mother and poet developing a biodiverse garden in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Unlike naturalists before her--Thoreau, Abbey, or Muir--Dungy relates the mundane and the everyday of her life to the natural one she is growing around her home. The narrative is outwardly connected despite the forced isolation of early 2020, where much of the story is centered; it also reflects on the connections between racial and environmental justice, and on motherhood, current events, and history. Dungy calls it a story of a "Black mother finding peace in the wider-than-human world."
Reviewers say: “Fans of Dungy’s poetry will delight in her sparkling prose, and the wide-ranging meditations highlight the connections between land, freedom, and race. It’s a lyrical and pensive take on what it means to put down roots” (Publishers Weekly); “A poignant portrait of life and its challenges, told through the beauty of nature” (Library Journal).
You might also like: For more nature writing that explores the relationship between women, race and the environment, try World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Wild Girls by Tiya Miles, and We Are Each Other’s Harvest by Natalie Braszile. For additional lyrical and reflective narratives about nature, read Late Migrations by Margaret Renki, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, or Vesper Flights by Helen MacDonald.
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