To Hear the Trees Speak
by Olivia Sprinkel
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Pub Date 8 May 2025 | Archive Date 16 Apr 2025
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Description
'A poetically-written testimony of our own deep relationship with the natural world, and of nature’s own resilience.' Ben Goldsmith
Imagine if you could hear the trees speak. How would it change your life? Your relationship to the world around you? This is the story of what happened when the trees whispered me to quit my job, leave my life in New York and go on a journey to listen. It is the story of what I learnt from ten trees on five continents – and the lessons that the trees have for all of us on how to be in a rapidly changing world.
Olivia Sprinkel was sitting in her office in New York, an experienced international sustainability strategy and communications consultant, and as a newly single woman, she decided she had to make a change in her life and undertake a journey. To Hear the Trees Speak: Adventures in Listening is the story of her travels to Europe, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, to discover ten of our world’s essential trees and their habitats. The ten trees range from the banyan and bodhi to the olive, giant sequoia and beech.
Powerfully crafted, this is important and accessible nature writing blended with insightful memoir.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781835011539 |
| PRICE | £18.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Bloss �, Reviewer
What a uniquely written and presented book!
The slow pace felt so intentional given the focus of listening and being present that spanned Sprinkel’s time with the trees. There’s a unique blend of science, history, etymology, and specific dives into adjacent subjects depending on what part of the world we’re spending time in. On the other hand, there’s focus on dreams, religion, magic, and spirituality.
Immaculately researched, this book covers a wide range of perspectives, time, and geography. There’s a golden thread connecting the past, present, and uncertain future of the trees as climate breakdown accelerates. Sprinkel’s honesty about what this means for the various trees in the book, and the knock-on effect it will have for humans, was deeply appreciated by this reader.
This is a slow read, forcing us to consider all aspects of listening and being present. At times, I found some of the history and literature extracts a bit dry. The narrative flow between the hard science and Sprinkel’s experience weren’t always as smooth as they might’ve been. There’s a lot of repetition about Sprinkel’s yearning for children: she’s deeply grieving this but I’m not sure it needed to be repeated quite so much.
The final chapter was very different to rest of the book. The COVID-19 lockdowns barred Sprinkel from her trip to Africa. Instead, she uses this section to look inward and reflect on place, and by connecting with a beech tree. This had a much more intimate and memoir feel than the preceding chapters to me. In places, it read like a journal including some of Sprinkel’s own poetry and diary extracts.
I’m glad I spent time with this book. As a reader who has a deep appreciate for trees and a connection to nature, there’s a lot to appreciate about Sprinkel’s commitment to learning more about the connection of trees and community… as well as herself.
3.5
