Understory, Inga Simpson
Understory, Inga Simpson
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
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Understory

Author: Inga Simpson

Narrator: Inga Simpson

Unabridged: 9 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/30/2017


Synopsis

'a controlled and literate work that earns its emotional peaks' - Saturday Paper

'a delight' - The Australian

A memoir about staying in one place, told through trees, by the award-winning author of MR WIGG, NEST and WHERE THE TREES WERE.

"The understorey is where I live, alongside these plants and creatures. I tend the forest, stand at the foot of trees and look up, gather what has fallen."

This is the story of a tree-change, of escaping suburban Brisbane for a cottage on ten acres in search of a quiet life. Of establishing a writers retreat shortly before the Global Financial Crisis hit, and of losing just about everything when it did.

It is also the story of what the author found there: the beauty of nature and her own path as a writer. Understory is a memoir about staying in one place, told through trees, by the award-winning author of MR WIGG, NEST and WHERE THE TREES WERE.

'Something powerful ... takes hold of the reader and transports [you] to the forest floor in a kind of awe' - Sydney Morning Herald

'I love the way the reader gets lost in the trees and then lost in Inga's life and then lost in the trees again. Understory feels so rich and nourishing, as if the restorative power of the Australian bush is transmitted through her words.' - Richard Glover, bestselling author and radio presenter

'a fine addition to the genre of Australian nature writing' Books + Publishing

About Inga Simpson

Inga Simpson began her career as a professional writer for government before gaining a PhD in creative writing. In 2011, she took part in the Queensland Writers Centre Manuscript Development Program and, as a result, Hachette Australia published her first novel, Mr Wigg, in 2013. Nest, Inga's second novel, was published in 2014 and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize and shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal. Inga's third novel, the acclaimed Where the Trees Were, was published in 2016.Inga was awarded the final Eric Rolls Prize for her nature writing and has obtained a second PhD, exploring the history of Australian nature writers. Inga's account of her love of Australian nature and life with trees, Understory, was published in 2017. Her first book for children, The Book of Australian Trees, illustrated by Alicia Rogerson, was published in 2021. The Last Woman in the World, her critically acclaimed environmental thriller, was published in 2021 and shortlisted for the 2022 Fiction Indie Book Award. Her bestselling and critically acclaimed 2022 novel Willowman was shortlisted for the BookPeople Adult Fiction Book of the Year 2023. Inga lives on the NSW south coast among trees.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on June 10, 2017

Beautifully written memoir, capturing the hardships and joys of a life lived in sub-tropical semi-wildness. Simpson writes about nature as well as anyone, and here she also captures something heartbreaking and true about life. One of my favourites of the year so far.......more

Goodreads review by Cheyenne on December 25, 2017

It was pretty much a given that I would love this book, as it combines two of my favourite things: nature and rural living, with the writing life. Three things, if you add in that this memoir is about Inga Simpson’s time living in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, where I lived for a whil......more

Goodreads review by Kellie on June 30, 2018

Clever! I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading but it certainly wasn’t that my own connections to nature would intensify in the way they did. I’ve always loved trees, the bush, birds & the outdoors but I started observing these things around me in even more detail; paying attention......more

Goodreads review by Helen on July 21, 2017

Absolutely beautiful - a lot to take in, and I found I could read in small snatches because I wanted to think about what I'd read before moving to the next part. A wonderful way of weaving a life narrative into a nature narrative - I haven't quite read anything like this before.......more

Goodreads review by Cass on July 10, 2017

The attached photo of the cover of Inga Simpson’s latest book, Understory: A Life With Trees (Hachette Australia Books 2017), doesn’t really do justice to the actual cover, which features the veined leaf in a stunning coppery-gold that shines from the understated green background, reminiscent of the......more


Quotes

'It is a fine addition to the genre of Australian nature writing.'