Unearthed: Love, Acceptance, and Other Lessons from an Abandoned Garden
by Alexandra Risen
Published by Penguin Random House Canada
Paperback
August 2016, 271 pages
Alexandra Risen's father dies just as she and her husband purchase
a nondescript house set atop a natural gorge in the middle of the
city. The garden is choked with weeds and crumbling structures. Over the
years, as she undertakes the replanting, it stirs memories of her
childhood when a nearby forest was her only escape from an empty home
life.
As Risen beats back the bushes to unveil the garden’s mysteries, her mother has a stroke and develops dementia. On one of her last visits home, she discovers an envelope of yellowed documents that helps her piece together some of her parents' unknown story.
Uprooted from the Ukraine to work in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, her father and mother met and married in a Displaced Persons camp before emigrating to Edmonton. They never discussed their troubled past. Her father shut himself into a safe, silent world and spoke few words to Alex during his lifetime. Her mother sought refuge in her garden amidst her vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.
As Risen toils in her own garden, lifelong resentments and misunderstandings are replaced with memories and connections to her parents. Organized around various flowers, trees and shrubs that evoke particular memories, Unearthed is an affecting account of tangled family relationships, reconciliation and the healing power of nature.
As Risen beats back the bushes to unveil the garden’s mysteries, her mother has a stroke and develops dementia. On one of her last visits home, she discovers an envelope of yellowed documents that helps her piece together some of her parents' unknown story.
Uprooted from the Ukraine to work in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, her father and mother met and married in a Displaced Persons camp before emigrating to Edmonton. They never discussed their troubled past. Her father shut himself into a safe, silent world and spoke few words to Alex during his lifetime. Her mother sought refuge in her garden amidst her vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.
As Risen toils in her own garden, lifelong resentments and misunderstandings are replaced with memories and connections to her parents. Organized around various flowers, trees and shrubs that evoke particular memories, Unearthed is an affecting account of tangled family relationships, reconciliation and the healing power of nature.
Source: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/538849/unearthed-by-alexandra-risen/9780143198956
More about Alexandra Risen:
http://alexandrarisen.com/
https://www.thestar.com/life/2016/08/06/toronto-author-unearths-abandoned-garden-and-finds-her-past.html
An Evening with Alexandra Risen
On October 19, 2018, Alexandra Risen graciously participated in a Rozmova Book Club gathering to discuss her memoir, Unearthed. She revealed her personal story openly, generously sharing details that don't appear in her book: her quiet dream to be a writer when it wasn't accepted in her parents' household; her intriguing writing process that transformed 20 stories about her garden into her memoir; her gratitude for the guidance she received from the University of Toronto Creative Writing Program; the direction her agent offered on facing her family's past; and the unwavering support her husband and son provided. Alexandra said the book was the result of looking deeply into her past and became a journey of understanding. Rozmova members are very grateful for Alexandra's insights and wholehearted participation in our discussion. Congratulations on a very good read!
More about Alexandra Risen:
http://alexandrarisen.com/
https://www.thestar.com/life/2016/08/06/toronto-author-unearths-abandoned-garden-and-finds-her-past.html
An Evening with Alexandra Risen
On October 19, 2018, Alexandra Risen graciously participated in a Rozmova Book Club gathering to discuss her memoir, Unearthed. She revealed her personal story openly, generously sharing details that don't appear in her book: her quiet dream to be a writer when it wasn't accepted in her parents' household; her intriguing writing process that transformed 20 stories about her garden into her memoir; her gratitude for the guidance she received from the University of Toronto Creative Writing Program; the direction her agent offered on facing her family's past; and the unwavering support her husband and son provided. Alexandra said the book was the result of looking deeply into her past and became a journey of understanding. Rozmova members are very grateful for Alexandra's insights and wholehearted participation in our discussion. Congratulations on a very good read!
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