I am not a scientist or hold any sort of related profession, but a humble forest enthusiast, having grown up in the woods. I already agree with the book, its science, its conclusions. I’ve read a bit from others’ whose work has been based on or impacted by Simard’s work (lots of forests and fungus in my library), which is already highly respected and revered in the circles of ecology. So I don’t have much to say in response to the half of Finding The Mother Tree that was actually about the science and trees. My only reaction to these was that the talk of experiments became repetitive and delved much too strongly into minute detail. It felt like Simard was trying to prove herself to the reader, many of which I assume are not using the book to peer-review her experiments. I chalked this up to enthusiasm on the subject.
Here’s where we get to spoilers, if you can have spoilers on non-fiction.
The other half of the book is a memoir of the author’s life as it ran parallel along her research and discoveries from her beginnings as a young woman working in the logging industry to her later adult life as her work began to be recognized. And as any woman in any professional endevour (especially those run by men) knows, men make it difficult to get anything done. The aggression and abuse triggered by men’s fear, insecurity, and entitlement in reaction to women in any space is documented in Simard’s interactions with various men in her life.
“I was more interested in how these plants interact. They thought it was all very girlie.”
Suzanne Simard, NYTimes
This is where my anger started to come in, but it was not all directed at the men in Simard’s life that treated her like shit. Yes, I was angry at the terrible men, and angry for Simard having to deal with them. But as the book went on, I became increasingly frustrated that the abuse was being downplayed by how it was described.
About halfway through Finding The Mother Tree, there is a chapter dedicated to a drunken argument she has with her brother in a bar after a disappointing and upsetting presentation in her work to a bunch of shitty men who were, surprise, shitty. She describes her brother as a cowboy, and indeed he did work on a ranch or own a ranch or something. But the cowboy description isn’t just about what he does for a living, but also a note on his attitude. Their argument devolves after he starts comparing cows to women, making jokes about controlling them or some shit. As she describes the argument, her stumbling out of the bar with a friend while yelling back and forth, she’s already making excuses for him. She writes she shouldn’t have upset him, he just wanted to “blow off steam” after work and she should have let him, etc. She’s regretful and castrating herself as she describes a clearly shitty person doing clearly shitty things.
Okay, I think. She must just be telling this as her perspective of what happened at that time and how she felt bad for the last time they were together ending badly. But surely, I thought, she knew that what she described was someone being terrible and that they deserved way more than just getting shouted at in a bar? This scene is the only one we get of her and her brother together, and she manages to paint a picture of a rude, sexist, piece of shit guy who she gaslights herself over.
The chapter ends when you find out this was her last interaction with her beloved brother, who stopped talking to her and a couple weeks later died by getting run over a tractor he left in gear or something. Lots of talk of how her brother was a “good man”. I cannot say I felt bad about it.
“I can’t tell if my blood is in the trees or if the trees are in my blood.”
Susanne Simard
Another major figure of abuse in the story is a authority figure in forestry. This dude goes as far as to physically intimidate and verbally abuse her, in front of multiple witnesses. She says nothing and is escorted away by a friend. No one says anything negative to the man throwing a temper-tantrum and nearly assaulting a woman because she said things about trees he didn’t like.
I’m becoming more and more impatient for the turn. When does she stand up for herself? When does she tell these fuckers to fuck the fuck off? A kick to the junk would not go amiss at this point. Someone, do something! The author describes her sadness, her disappointment, but never her anger. So I am angry for her, but I am also angry with her.
Why am I angry at a victim of abuse? And maybe not angry, but frustrated with? I know it isn’t her fault, I know she’s just trying to survive and get people to listen to her about trees, I know what it is to be in situations with men where you can’t stand up for yourself. But in the retrospect, you can say all the things you wanted to but couldn’t. You can be like “Hey reader, here’s where someone should have picked up a stick and whacked this dude in the face with it until he stopped talking.” I crave some sort of satisfying resolve that real life does not afford us and thus it makes for a frustrating read. I am left wanting of someone to point out the massive herd of elephants in the room individually named misogyny, abuse, and gaslighting.
“There should be a special word for the type of mourning you know is to come.”
Suzanne Simard
“Well”, you say, “isn’t writing and releasing a book about her experience with those things doing exactly that? Pointing it out? Finding The Mother Tree is telling us how terrible shit is and how it impedes scientific discovery and our connection with the world!”
Yes, it is. You are correct. Just because she isn’t adding commentary to her experience, it doesn’t lessen the impact of stating what happened. It’s why this review isn’t about the writing but about how a worthwhile book made me feel. You don’t have to shout “LOOK AT THIS FUCKING SHIT” and point aggressively when you are releasing a book. The “LOOK AT THIS FUCKING SHIT” is implied. It doesn’t make it any less frustrating to read, but I agree with you, imaginary person. I’m just conveying my experience and feelings from reading the book. Please don’t send me imaginary follow-ups.
With Overstory, the Pulitzer Prize-winning story which uses Simard as inspiration for a central character, and now Simard’s own Finding The Mother Tree getting plenty of traction (so much that I actually heard about it, and I don’t even use social media) including he film rights already being sold, and the fact that her work has been vital to ecology work for years, I would assume any intonation of insecurity that came across in her writing about her earlier years would be long gone now. The tone I speak of might also have been exacerbated by the fact I listened to the audio book, which the author performs herself, and her calm demeanor and Canadian cadence overwhelm the exclamations.
The themes of connection and family throughout the book should be what you walk away with, but the theme of the book to me was “men are terrible, woman begrudgingly continues on”. And really, what woman’s life story is not some version of that? My personal problem with this lovely and important book was that I wanted to read about trees, not about men being shitty with no consequences. I already have a PhD in that.
