Comment

In Unearthing, Kyo Maclear offers a thoughtful meditation on genealogy and family secrets. After her father’s passing the author did a DNA test, hoping to find out more about her father’s family. Unexpectedly, the test revealed that she and the father who raised her were not biologically related. When her Japanese mother, whose health is rapidly declining, is unwilling or unable to tell her the truth it becomes a detective story, with Maclear trying to unravel the mystery of her own parentage and how it came about. Many memoirs have examined the same issues, but this one stands out for it’s elegant and insightful writing on identity, lineage, race, and what it means to be a family. Maclear deftly weaves together stories of her life and her parent’s lives with a personal botanical history inspired by her mother’s love of gardening. The audio for this book is excellent, read by the author herself. The text contains Japanese, French, and Hebrew words and phrases, and while I can’t comment on the Japanese or Hebrew, her French does the job. She is remarkably sympathetic toward her parents, though occasionally frustrated and indignant, and I sometimes felt myself getting angry on her behalf while she remained completely calm in her reading. Overall an excellent read, both in print and in audio.