Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Unearthed

  • On Race and Roots, and How the Soil Taught Me I Belong
  • By: Claire Ratinon
  • Narrated by: Claire Ratinon
  • Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (25 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Unearthed

By: Claire Ratinon
Narrated by: Claire Ratinon
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

'When we speak of our origins, that which made us, we speak of our roots. We acknowledge how our identities are intertwined with land, whether it's the one we are standing on or another we lay claim to.'

Unearthed is the story of how Claire Ratinon found belonging through falling in love with growing plants. For years, her troubled relationship with the land of her birth left her feeling unwanted, but reconnecting with nature allowed her finally to put down roots.

Like many diasporic people of colour, Claire grew up feeling cut off from the natural world. She lived in cities, reluctant to be outdoors and stuck with the belief that success and status could fill the space where belonging was absent. Through learning the practise of growing food, she unpicked her beliefs about who she ought to be. Over her first year living in the English countryside and with the first vegetable patch of her own, she finds a pathway back to nature's embrace. And through growing the food of Mauritius, recording her parents' stories and exploring the history of the island, she also strengthens her connection to her homeland.

A beautiful work of nature-writing, memoir and storytelling, Unearthed urges us to look to the world outside for the belonging and home we seek. It is a heartfelt call to reconsider our history, the way we think about nature and the complex relationships we all have with the land.

©2022 Claire Ratinon (P)2022 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Rooted cover art
Uprooting cover art
Braiding Sweetgrass cover art
The Lost Rainforests of Britain cover art
Hagitude cover art
If Women Rose Rooted cover art
I Can Hear the Cuckoo cover art
Gathering Moss cover art
Belonging cover art
To Speak for the Trees cover art
Hermit cover art
The Way Home cover art
Dancing with Bees cover art
Seasons of a Magical Life cover art

What listeners say about Unearthed

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful and moving essay

A deeply personal trajectory through a growing love of plants and all the identity reckoning this brings up. Raw and sweet. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Profound, powerful and insightful memoir

I absolutely loved this poetic and moving exploration of identity, race and growing. Hard recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must

Eloquent, honest, brilliantly narrated by the author. Personal experiences, historical account and the present day are seamlessly woven together. 'A must' read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Book of the year!

Totally spellbinding, loved it all! A wonderful biographical journey that is in equal parts heart wrenching but with an overarching message of hope. Dare you not to want to go and put your hands directly in the soil and start growing something after listening to this wonderful book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful book

I adored listening to Claire tell her story. I resonated with so much and learnt so much too. Beautifully written. A pleasure to listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting and moving

I loved this book but I struggled to hear Claire’s words, she talks SO fast. I wanted to think about the weight of her story but had to slow the speed of recitation. This book for me would have been better read by someone else, perhaps to make it less familiar, someone who could savour the words.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential reading!

Elegiac meditation on what colonialism and capitalism have done to the natural world. Life changing!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Most meaningful book

The most beautiful, thoughtful book I have read for a long time. It leaves you with many thoughts and questions about the world of growing vegetables and life and nature in general. Thank you so much Claire

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!