Nature Connections Book Club: Finding the Mother Tree

Thank you to everyone who joined us live for the Nature Connections Book Club.

For anyone who couldn’t make it, a summary of our discussions and details of our upcoming events can be found below.

Your Thoughts on... Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard.

Our group thoroughly enjoyed this book, giving it an average 9/10 rating. The group described the book as a magical, enlightening and thought provoking journey into the forest. This is a book about connection, blending scientific discovery and personal memoir as Simard effortlessly draws parallels between her professional and personal life. 

We discussed the western scientific method that Simard describes in her book and uses throughout her research. While some of our group members felt that much of her research was simply demonstrating that which Indigenous populations have known for a long time leaving them with a feeling that the Indigenous voices were missing in this book, others praised Simard for sticking with her own strengths, sharing her personal story and using scientific insights to highlight this knowledge to a new audience who may not be open to Indigenous ways of knowing.

We reflected upon Simard’s cancer diagnosis and journey detailed in the book. Simard herself wonders if the cancer diagnosis is linked to her scientific research and exposure to radioactivity and our group reflected upon this possibility. We discussed Simard’s determination to share the knowledge she had, despite the risks to her own health..

We discussed this book’s place in our book club. Finding the Mother Tree has strong links with many of our previous reads. Suzanne Simard herself is the inspiration for a key character in 'The Overstory' by Richard Powers and our group enjoyed reading Simard's book and reflecting on the similarities and differences that exist between her story and that of ‘Patricia’ in The Overstory.

Simard's book also represents the western scientific end of the spectrum of books we have read about life in the forest, but we have explored other reads that bring Indigenous voices to the front including 'We Will Not Be Saved' by Nemonte Nenquimo and 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer. In fact, Braiding Sweetgrass is quoted several times by Simard who often reflects on the teachings in this book, applying them to her own garden and utilising similar themes in her research. 

Finally we reflected on the title ‘Finding the Mother Tree’, taking time to discuss the parallels Simard draws between the mother trees she observes in the forest, and her own motherhood journey in the book. We shared a little about some of the important trees in our own lives. Our group has connections with trees across the world from grand oaks, to delicate weeping cherries and tough urban birches. 

Taking your book into Nature

This book club is about building connections with Nature through literature. At the end of each session, we close with a prompt to get our into Nature and reconnect with a simple activity linked to the themes in the book. This time, Simard provided the activity for us in her closing chapter:

“Here’s a simple and profound action you can take right now: Go find a tree - YOUR tree. Imagine linking into her network, connecting to other trees nearby. Open your senses.”

Suzanne Simard, Finding the Mother Tree

Join our Nature Connections Book Club

We can thank everyone enough who came along and contributed to this session. If you’d like to join the discussion, you can share your thoughts with us at bookclub@treesisters.org or join one of our upcoming book club events on the links below.

Our Next Book:

The Spirit of the Rainforest: How Indigenous wisdom and scientific curiosity reconnects us to the natural world

by Dr Rosa Vásquez Espinoza

Gathering: 24 September, 7pm BST, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT

Dr Rosa is no stranger to the Amazon. Growing up with the rainforest as her back garden, she learnt the lessons of the rainforest from her grandmother, a native healer in natural medicine. She went on to pursue a classical education in science, gaining a PhD in the US, but has always been pulled back to the heart of the Amazon. As a leading biologist in her field, Rosa continues to explore the region through a unique blend of scientific inquiry and ancient insight.

Tickets are £3 and available now via the button below.

Book your space

SPECIAL EVENT: A Live Conversation and Q&A with Dr Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, 12 June

Date: June 12, 6pm BST, 1pm EDT & 10am PDT

Location: Online (free to attend – but please feel free to make a donation to TreeSisters if you’re able) 

Register

If you know of a great book and would like to suggest it for a future book club, please let us know using our book suggestion form.

The Nature Connections Book Club