Understory : a life with trees by Inga Simpson
Inga Simpson is a successful Australian writer who has published several books in a range of genres and has mentored many aspiring writers in the past twenty years. Understory is the book that established her as one of Australia’s most respected nature writers. She holds two doctorates (in creative writing and English literature) and is a thoughtful, intelligent and skilled writer. She has won many awards and honours and is a frequent invitee at book festivals and environmental events.
Understory is promoted as a memoir, but it is much more than that. In one respect, it is a detailed chronicle of trees, shrubs, animals and birds found in the subtropical rainforest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. But is also a love story, detailing the intimate relationship which developed over ten years between Inga and the majestic trees surrounding her cottage, exploring their lives and communicating with and between them and documenting the interdependent life of the forest. It also outlines the lives of other forest dwellers – birds, wallabies, bats, geckoes, snakes and many others. Finally, it is a moving and at times sadly intimate memoir of her relationships and community experiences as “development” steadily impinges on her beloved rainforest.
This is a book worth reading and re-reading. Its prose is precise and lyrical and Inga’s descriptions of the native flora and fauna are instructive and compelling. She details how plants support each other in unique ways:
The forest doesn’t lie, or let you down. It is only ever itself. A forest, like any ecosystem is stronger and healthier left undisturbed; all of its parts are connected…Trees communicate and share resources through their root systems using extensive fungal networks. The relationship is mutually beneficial – the fungi derive nutrients from the trees’ roots and the trees utilise the mycelium network like a ‘wood wide web.’
Inga and her then partner built a writers’ retreat on their bushland property which eventually resulted in them accumulating large debts when clients dried up during the global financial crisis. With their hopes and dreams shattered, their partnership dissolved and eventually Inga was forced to sell her home to settle outstanding loans.
But in describing Understory and its meaning to her life, she wrote:
It’s a love affair of place. Each chapter explores a particular species of tree, layering description, anecdote, and natural history with aspects of my own story – how I ended up there, and how I see the world. And how sometimes losing everything can be the best thing that happens to you.
This is a beautiful, passionate book. Reading it will change your life.
Reviewed by Peter Maywald
SMSA Member
