Nature Lessons is a novel of self-discovery and healing old wounds. Set in Ohio and South Africa, the narrative unfolds as Kate Jensen struggles to understand why she is incapable of putting down roots. After she receives a desperate letter from her mother, Kate travels back to her homeland of South Africa to try to unravel a 30-year mystery and find the mother she lost long ago.
Slipping back and forth in time, we move easily from past to present and back again as we follow Kate and her mother through their lives together and apart. As readers we learn along with Kate what drove her mother to her overwhelming paranoia and we learn why Kate herself fears commitment. It is a touching and intriguing story, layering the personal and the political as both Kate and the nation of South Africa search for truth and reconciliation.
myfanwy collins 