A book of radical acceptance from the Pulitzer Prize finalist – ‘Beautiful’ Douglas Stuart
A remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance from acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist Yiyun Li as she considers the loss of her son James.
1st September 2025
Hardcover
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
A book of radical acceptance from the Pulitzer Prize finalist – ‘Beautiful’ Douglas Stuart
A remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance from acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist Yiyun Li as she considers the loss of her son James.
Description
A remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance from acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist Yiyun Li as she considers the loss of her son James.
'There is no good way to say this,' Yiyun Li writes at the beginning of this book.
'There is no good way to state these facts, which must be acknowledged. My husband and I had two children and lost them both: Vincent in 2017, at sixteen, James in 2024, at nineteen. Both chose suicide, and both died not far from home.'
There is no good way to say this – because words fall short. It takes only an instant for death to become fact, 'a single point in a timeline'. Living now on this single point, Li turns to thinking and reasoning and searching for words that might hold a place for James. Li does what she can: including not just writing but gardening, reading Camus and Wittgenstein, learning the piano, and living thinkingly alongside death.
This is a book for James, but it is not a book about grieving or mourning. As Li writes, 'The verb that does not die is to be. Vincent was and is and will always be Vincent. James was and is and will always be James. We were and are and will always be their parents. There is no now and then, now and later, only, now and now and now and now.' Things in Nature Merely Grow is a testament to Li’s indomitable spirit.
'A manifesto of living, not dying, and of how we endure the most unimaginable things' Sinéad Gleeson, The Week
Critic Reviews
Praise for Things in Nature Merely Grow:
‘Grief is a difficult subject to write about, but this devastating account of the suicides of Li's two sons is clear-eyed and unsentimental. It's a manifesto of living, not dying, and of how we endure the most unimaginable things’ Sinéad Gleeson, The Week
‘I have never read a book in which illumination meets devastation on such equal footing, nor have I ever read such a formidable testament to a mother’s love … one of the most important books to be published in years’ Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton
‘There are few writers with Li’s power and this is a beautiful, unsentimental book that offers some understanding of coping with devastating loss. It offers a powerful human connection and I was reminded that this is why we write, this is why we read’ Douglas Stuart, author of Young Mungo
'I held my breath as I read, not because of jeopardy but because it’s such an astonishing high-wire act of writing and thinking and mourning. There’s bleak but wild exhilaration in reading something so uncompromisingly committed to thinking all the way down. An extraordinary book’ Sarah Moss, author of Ripeness
‘Li’s astonishing record of how she has chosen acceptance over despair shows why artists among us sometimes offer more wisdom than any other spirituality’ LA Times
‘Li does not shy away from the magnitude of these losses. Instead, she writes of radical acceptance, offering a profound look at how a parent continues to live in a world without her children’ TIME
'The power of Things in Nature Merely Grow resides in her refusal to pay obeisance to words' Harper’s Magazine
‘An impossible book, yet through Li’s deftness and determination she transforms the book into an intricate and nonlinear portrait of loss and love’ Chicago Review of Books
About the Author
Yiyun Li grew up in Beijing, China, and came to the United States in 1996. She is the recipient of several prizes for her writing and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Li’s stories have been published in the New Yorker, the Paris Review and elsewhere. She lives in Iowa City, USA, with her husband and their two sons.
Product Details
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.
1st September 2025
Browse by category
- Books » Fiction & Literature » Poetry
- Books
- Books » Fiction & Literature
- Books » Non-Fiction » Health, Fitness & Family » Parenting & Relationships » Family Relationships
- Books » Non-Fiction
- Books » Non-Fiction » Health, Fitness & Family
- Books » Non-Fiction » Health, Fitness & Family » Parenting & Relationships
- Books » Non-Fiction » Health, Fitness & Family » Parenting & Relationships » Parenting
- Books » Non-Fiction » Biographies & Memoirs
- Books » Non-Fiction » Politics & Social Sciences » Philosophy
- Books » Non-Fiction » Politics & Social Sciences
- Books » Non-Fiction » Self-Help & Personal Development » Self-Help » Death & Grief
- Books » Non-Fiction » Self-Help & Personal Development
- Books » Non-Fiction » Self-Help & Personal Development » Self-Help
- Books » Non-Fiction » Health, Fitness & Family » Parenting & Relationships » Family Relationships » Motherhood
