How I Became A Tree is a richly poetic paean to Mother Nature and especially the often underappreciated world of trees. It's a rare and unusual meditation on the plant world that meanders through history, religious philosophy, botanical research, literature, cinema, folklore and mythology exploring Roy’s desire not just to foster a higher appreciation and understand them but to become one herself; to feel the freedom they feel and to have no concept of time and the pressures than accompany it. To slow down from the weariness of the world and truly take in the beauty of the world we inhabit in all its glory.

The life of a tree is so much simpler than our own, and although the desire to become a tree may certainly seem a little bizarre, when you dive deeper into the explanations behind Roy's dream can be understood by anyone. Her musings often provide unique insights and alternative perspectives about the nature of the world. However, there are a few parts of the book that do make you wide-eyed in befuddlement. For instance, her rumination on having sexual relations with trees, taking them as lovers and becoming wed to them; she also wonders why we do not produce statues of trees.

Throughout Roy intersperses stories about those she deems kindred spirits which I found fascinating. Many of them hail from her native India but not all and include botanist Jagdish Chandra Bose, photographer Beth Moon who devoted 14 years of her life to traversing the planet photographing many of the oldest trees and author DH Lawrence, a prominent nature lover. This is an intriguing, wholly original and beautiful book on appreciating the magic of the flora and fauna which surrounds us. Written in an engaging and often lyrical fashion, this is one for those who simply adore the natural world.

A thought-provoking and interesting narrative using the example of a tree both metaphorically and literally to examine aspects of life. At first, I enjoyed reading the ruminations but I did come to find the analogy contrived and long-winded by the end.

Thank you to the publisher and Sumana Roy for an advanced copy.

The book has a captivating, minimalist cover that enchanted me enough to seal the deal and get hold of the book right away. The cover artistically portrays author’s love, longing and connect with the trees that capture her obsession and the innate desire to become a tree.
The blurb on the book reads:
“In this remarkable and often unsettling book, Sumana Roy gives us a new vision of what it means to be human in the natural world. Increasingly disturbed by the violence, hate, insincerity, greed and selfishness of her kind, the author is drawn to the idea of becoming a tree. ‘I was tired of speed’, she writes, ‘I wanted to live to tree time.’ Besides wanting to emulate the spacious, relaxed rhythm of trees, she is drawn to their non-violent ways of being, how they tread lightly upon the earth, their ability to cope with loneliness and pain, the unselfishness with which they give freely of themselves and much more.
She gives us new readings of the works of writers, painters, photographers and poets (Rabindranath Tagore and D. H. Lawrence among them) to show how trees and plants have always fascinated us. She studies the work of remarkable scientists like Jagadish Chandra Bose and key spiritual figures like the Buddha to gain even deeper insights into the world of trees. She writes of those who have wondered what it would be like to have sex with a tree, looks into why people marry trees, explores the death and rebirth of trees and tells us why a tree was thought by forest-dwellers to be equal to ten sons.”
Though Roy’s musings often provide unique insights and alternative perspectives about the nature of the world – both natural and human, at times they get a bit much (Like when she contemplates why do we not have statues of trees, only to contradict herself later in the book with “a tree statue would be a piece of tautology”). Also, if the author had shared a bit more about herself in the book, it would be easier to connect to or feel invested in her anecdotes about her childhood games and art classes.
This is a book strictly for those who share the author’s love and curiosity for flora. Roy’s reflections may at times seem bizzare (especially the chapters on the possible complications of taking trees as lovers or marrying them), but her quest – given the vast research and feeling put into this defence of those with barks, leaves and roots – is one hundred percent genuine. It is another shade of love and much like the romantic kind, it may seem weird, or difficult to understand, to those on the outside of it.

"At first it was the underwear. I wanted to become a tree because trees did not wear bras."
What a first sentence!

That book was just a delight to read. I have enjoyed reading many books about nature (the pandemic in the capital made me crave it) and a lot of the authors I have read were from the US or Britain. It was such a lovely surprise to read Sumana Roy, an author from India, and to follow her obsession with trees. The tone is not particularly scientific, although she does reflect on how trees grow, function, exist. She focuses more on her relationship with trees, trees as... beings, and how they have been depicted by various authors - many of them, apart from Tagore, I had not heard of, so I also enjoyed highlighting names and references to check. It is beautifully written, poetic and clean, not overly lyrical. She reflects on her status as a woman, her vulnerability and how that feeds her fascination for trees - "(...) it had to do with the spectre of violence. I loved the way in which trees coped with dark and lonely places while sunlessness decided curfew hours for me."

She dreams about living in "tree time", and her "failture to be a good slave to time". She thinks about hermits, about fairy tales, about getting lost in the woods (where else can you get lost?), about buddhism. She thinks about a lot of things

I found it unexpected and like nothing else I have read before - so endearing, so original and so intelligent. Would highly recommend.

An interesting narrative in which Sumana Roy recounts her spiritual journey. Using the example of a tree both metaphorically and literally and many stories, she examines all aspects of life. I found the analogy with a tree a bit contrived at times, nevertheless this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book.

Roving in its ruminations and powerfully profound, How I Became a Tree is a rapturously researched and poignantly personal review of these resiliently omnipresent but often neglected objects of nature. The thoughtful explorations of the tenderness and toughness of trees was thoroughly engaging and I truly enjoyed the cultural elements and educational chestnuts embedded throughout its concise chapters - Roy's ponderous probing is consciously comprehensive, citing the perennial role of trees in literature and the popularity of nature photography, plucking notations from philosophy and adding commentary on the presence of trees in religion, making pointed references to community practices and offering observations on perspectives across cultures and civilizations.

A refreshingly peaceful experience from page one, How I Became a Tree reads like a contemplative amble through the author's nostalgic remembrances, paving a road through retrospective chains of thought as she picks apart how we can compare ourselves with our leafy counterparts on a plethora of levels, challenging arboreal norms and confronting a number of puzzling contradictions in how we think about our plant companions and evergreen environments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yale University Press for kindly passing on this ARC! 💫