Two Trees Make a Forest

Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family's Past

First edition
Author	Jessica J. Lee
Publisher	Virago Press
Publication date	Nov 7 2019
ISBN	9780735239586

Two Trees Make a Forest is a travel memoir by British Canadian author Jessica J. Lee.^[1] In it she describes finding a trove of letters written by her grandfather, and how it leads her to travel to her mother's and grandfather's home of Taiwan.

In its review the Los Angeles Review of Books described the travel portion of the book as mirroring Lee's journey of self-discovery.^[2] Its review calls Lee's writing "poetic and emotive" and says her "elegance of language is ever present in the work".

In its review Geographical called the book "a fascinating and gentle read".^[3] It states "It is beautifully written, full of metaphor and short passages of illuminating description. But there is also a sense of melancholy which pervades the narrative."

In its annual roundup of book recommendations The New Statesman's Robert Macfarlane wrote the book pushed the border of a memoir, describing it as a "moving exploration of landscape, language and the nature of family."^[4]

The book won the 2020 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.^[5]

References

1. "12 Canadian books coming out in July we can't wait to read". CBC Books. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2020-07-24. A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan.
2. Kristen Schott (2020-04-24). "The Language of Self-Discovery: On Jessica J. Lee's "Two Trees Make a Forest"". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2020-07-24. JESSICA J. LEE ASKS the reader to consider slippery definitions of family in her complicated but thoughtful memoir, Two Trees Make a Forest: In Search of My Family's Past Among Taiwan's Mountains and Coasts, which weaves the political character of Taiwan with her family's own heritage and her journey of self-discovery amid the rural landscapes of the island.
3. Katie Burton (2020-03-06). "TWO TREES MAKE A FOREST: On Memory, Migration and Taiwan by Jessica J Lee book review". Geographical magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-24. Intermingled family, geographical and political history make this a fascinating and gentle read. It is both an introduction to Taiwan, its people and its topography, and a highly personal, and honest, account of one family.
4. "Books of the year: Our friends and contributors choose their favourite reading of 2019". New Statesman. 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2020-07-24. Two books that both test the edges of "memoir" stood out for me this year; Sinéad Gleeson's glittering and experimental Constellations: Reflections from Life (Picador), and Jessica J Lee's moving exploration of landscape, language and the nature of family, Two Trees Make A Forest: On Memory, Migration and Taiwan (Virago).
5. Craig Takeuchi, "Gil Adamson, Jessica J. Lee win Writers’ Trust literary prizes". Now, November 19, 2020.