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Unearthed

On race and roots, and how the soil taught me I belong

Claire Ratinon

$24.99

Paperback

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English
Vintage
26 September 2023
A beautiful work of nature-writing, memoir and storytelling that will change the way we think about the natural world, from food grower Claire Ratinon

A powerful work of memoir and storytelling that will change the way we think about the natural world.

Like many diasporic people of colour, Claire Ratinon grew up feeling cut off from the natural world. She lived in cities, reluctant to be outdoors and stuck with the belief that success and status could fill the space where belonging was absent.

But a chance encounter with a rooftop farm was the start of a journey that caused her to rethink the life she'd been creating and her beliefs about who she ought to be.

Enlivened, she turned her hand to growing food in London before finding herself yearning for a small parcel of land to call her own.

Unearthed tells the story of her leaving the city for the English countryside - and her first garden - in the hope of forging a pathway towards the embrace of the natural world and a sense of belonging cultivated on her own terms.

'Ratinon's story will change hearts and minds' Alice Vincent

'A beautiful book about nature...

I recommend it' Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish)

By:  
Imprint:   Vintage
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 196mm,  Width: 128mm,  Spine: 30mm
Weight:   260g
ISBN:   9781529114867
ISBN 10:   1529114861
Pages:   320
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  ELT Advanced ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Claire Ratinon is an organic food grower and writer of Mauritian heritage. After a chance encounter with a rooftop farm while living in New York City, Claire discovered her love for growing vegetables. She returned to London, where she left her career in documentary production, and has been pursuing her passion for plants ever since. Claire has grown organic vegetables for the Ottolenghi restaurant, Rovi; delivered workshops to audiences from East London primary schools to community gardens; given talks for organisations including Whitechapel Gallery, The Garden Museum, Charleston House and the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh as well as presenting features on Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time. Her writing has been featured in Waitrose Food Magazine, Bloom and the New Statesman and her first book, How to Grow Your Dinner Without Leaving The House, was published in 2020. She lives in East Sussex.

Reviews for Unearthed: On race and roots, and how the soil taught me I belong

A beautiful book about nature, and how reengaging with the foundational experience of our species of growing and cultivating crops can be a source of healing and spiritual truth... I recommend it -- Afua Hirsch It is rare for a book to come along that tells a story that has never been heard before. Unearthed is just that and more. Deeply felt, deeply told, deeply generous, Claire Ratinon's story of trying to find a place of belonging in a post-colonial landscape is one that will change hearts and minds. How vitally we have needed this narrative, how beautifully it has been told. -- Alice Vincent, author of Rootbound Exquisite * Nova Reid, Author of The Good Ally * Poignant and groundbreaking... we are tenderly offered a new possibility of deeper wonder, awe and profound hope as we unearth the truth that grows in all our gardens * The Garden * A beautiful work of nature-writing, memoir and storytelling. * Country & Town House *


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