Book Review: Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee

I picked up this memoir because it appeared on the list of selections for the Canada Reads competition and I found both the title and the concept intriguing.

Environmental historian Lee finds a fragmented memoir written by her grandfather after he passes away from complications with Alzheimer’s disease. Travelling to Taiwan to piece together her grandfather’s story, Lee braids together the tale of his life with environmental and historical details about the island itself. Both stories mirror, reflect, and give depth to each other, with the historical details providing excellent context to someone like myself with very little knowledge about Taiwan’s past. I found the book haunting and meditative, and was often so fully immersed in the story I could feel myself being surrounded by the magnificent cloud cypress forests Lee explores on her travels. In feeling similar to one of my all-time favourite memoirs, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, I will be adding this one to my collection of books to return to again and again, books where I can travel without ever leaving my home.