This is an absolutely glorious book! A beautifully told story about finding belonging in the natural world and growing roots. This is the nature memoir we all need, truly marvellous!

'Unearthed' by Claire Ratinon is a brilliant work of memoir and nature writing which is beautifully written and highly perceptive. Ratinon originally worked as a documentary-maker before becoming interested in gardening and food growing, initially in New York and then in London. 'Unearthed' recounts her first year living and gardening in a Sussex village, with frequent glimpses back to her own upbringing, her parents and her Mauritian heritage.

Ratinon is fiercely engaged with questions of structural inequality and powerfully explores the way in which debates around nature and the environment can intersect with racism, from the disturbing rhetoric of ecofascism to the conflation of the terms 'non-native' and 'invasive' to describe plant species. She also discusses how people of colour are under-presented in nature writing and are more generally often seen not to belong in green spaces, as was shockingly demonstrated in the Central Park birdwatching incident which took place on the same day as the murder of George Floyd. Ratinon connects these ideas to hers and her family's experiences of racism and to the white supremacist ideals underpinning the colonial history of Mauritius which persist into this century.

Many sections of this book therefore make for challenging reading, but this is also a book full of hope and healing as Ratinon writes about the joy that can be found in plants and growing. I was particularly moved by her efforts to grow Mauritian plants as a tribute to her parents and a way of connecting with and reclaiming her heritage. Overall, I found this a very illuminating and important book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.