Welcome to Litsy!

This is familiar territory for me—I read Inheritance (tagged ⬇️) several years ago which is a very similar set up to Unearthing — the author discovers that the man believed to be her father was in fact not her biological father after his death. This book was different in the way it was told, discussing plants and seasons with many sections about her mother. A great memoir but one I couldn‘t help but to compare to the other mentioned above.

A DNA test uproots identity. Organized around plants and seasons, this lyric memoir contains beautiful observations on grief and making peace with the unanswerable. But like her mother‘s garden, the text is wild and rambling. I drifted in and out. 2023

P139 “How would she have related to love and gentleness and other normal things if she were not taught to be in a state of constant defense and secrecy?”

Unique, moving and lovely memoir told within the framework of Japanese sekki, or “small seasons.”

"... not everything can be woven into a pattern, some dots don't have a line to connect them." After the death of her father, Kyo Mclear took an online DNA test that changed what she thought she knew: her father was not, in fact, her father. What follows is Mclear's journey into family, love, grief, memory, nature, and art. It is a stunningly beautiful, poetic look at the things that connect and disconnect us. I can not say enough, it was great.

Kids are at the park with friends, husband is in an online course, and someone thinks I have better things to do than read my book. #DogsofLitsy #Sprocket

A compelling memoir about looking for answers and questioning the family you thought you knew. Excellent writing - I‘m sure it took a ton of work to organize the fragments into this whole, but I loved the shape of the book.