Unearthed: On Race and Roots, and How the Soil Taught Me I Belong

A powerful work of memoir and storytelling that will change the way we think about the natural world.

Like many diasporic people of colour, Claire Ratinon 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.

But a chance encounter with a rooftop farm was the start of a journey that caused her to rethink the life she'd been creating and her beliefs about who she ought to be. Enlivened, she turned her hand to growing food in London before finding herself yearning for a small parcel of land to call her own.

Unearthed tells the story of her leaving the city for the English countryside - and her first garden - in the hope of forging a pathway towards the embrace of the natural world and a sense of belonging cultivated on her own terms.

'Ratinon's story will change hearts and minds' Alice Vincent

'A beautiful book about nature...I recommend it' Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish)

Publisher: Vintage
Published: 07/25/2023
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.81lbs
ISBN: 9781529114867

About the Author
Claire Ratinon is an organic food grower and writer based in East Sussex. After a chance encounter with a rooftop farm while living in New York City, Claire discovered her love for growing vegetables. She returned to London, where she left her career in TV documentary production, and has been pursuing her passion for plants ever since. Claire has grown organic vegetables for the Ottolenghi restaurant, Rovi; delivered workshops to audiences including East London primary schools, community centers and corporate clients; given talks for organizations including The Garden Museum, the Royal College of Art and West Dean College; as well as having appeared on Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time. Her writing has been featured in Waitrose Food Magazine, Bloom and The Modern House Journal and her first book, How to Grow Your Dinner Without Leaving The House, was published in 2020.