Each chapter of this absorbing memoir explores a particular species of tree, layering description, anecdote, and natural history to tell the story of a scrap of forest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland - how the author came to be there and the ways it has shaped her life.

In many ways, it's the story of a treechange, of escaping suburban Brisbane for a cottage on ten acres in search of a quiet life. Of establishing a writers retreat shortly before the Global Financial Crisis, and losing just about everything.

It is also the story of what the author found there: the literature of nature and her own path as a writer. Some of the nature writing that has been part of this journey is woven through the narrative arc. The Language of Trees is about connection to place as a white settler descendent, and trying to reconcile where the author grew up with where the author is now. It is her story of learning to be at home among trees, and the search for a language appropriate to describe that experience. That journey leads Inga to nature writing, to an environmental consciousness, to regenerating this place and, ultimately, to learning Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri.

About the Author
Inga Simpson began her career as a professional writer for government before gaining a PhD in creative writing. In 2011, she took part in the Queensland Writers Centre Manuscript Development Program and, as a result, Hachette Australia published her first novel, Mr Wigg, in 2013. Nest, Inga's second novel, was published in 2014 and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize and shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal. Inga's third novel, the acclaimed Where the Trees Were, was published in 2016. Inga was awarded the final Eric Rolls Prize for her nature writing and has obtained a second PhD, exploring the history of Australian nature writers. Inga's account of her love of Australian nature and life with trees, Understory, was published in 2017. Her first book for children, The Book of Australian Trees, illustrated by Alicia Rogerson, was published in 2021. The Last Woman in the World, her critically acclaimed environmental thriller, was published in 2021 and shortlisted for the 2022 Fiction Indie Book Award. Her bestselling and critically acclaimed 2022 novel Willowman was shortlisted for the BookPeople Adult Fiction Book of the Year 2023 and in 2024 was selected by Australia's leading booksellers in BookPeople's 100 Must-Read Australian Novels. Inga lives on the New South Wales south coast among trees.

Reviews
Many people dream about making a 'tree change'. When Inga Simpson and her partner fell in love with 10 acres of bush in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, they succumbed to its allure without quite knowing just what they were taking on. They followed their hearts and purchased the adjoining block to set up their own writers' retreat business, threw in their jobs and went to work-only for the GFC (and other factors) to drop them into the hurtful depths of uncaring reality. There are plenty of these stories out there, but what makes this one worth the reader's time is the interweaving of natural science and personal story, description and reflection. Many chapters start with a particular tree found on the block-its growth and habitat, the fauna it supports and its human usage-before flowing into Simpson's life and labours. She learns to look, to see, and finally, to recognise not only the trees on her property, but also her own possibilities and strengths. While each of Simpson's novels has shown a strong connection to land and nature, this book allows her to expand her observations and concerns, and to preserve and celebrate her trees in words. It is a fine addition to the genre of Australian nature writing. -- Lindy Jones * Bookseller + Publisher *
To Come * Slow Magazine *
To Come * Readers Digest *
Country Update Magazine
...a controlled and literate work that earns its emotional peaks. * The Saturday paper *
'The novelist has written a memoir so imbued with her feelings for nature that it has brought a greater freedom in her fiction' + Article * Canberra Times, The Saturday Age *
Her book is a delight. * Weekend Australian *
This is the story of a tree change, from suburban Brisbane to a cottage e on 10 acres, but it's also a love letter to trees and living in the forest. * Australian Mother and Baby *
delight to read for anyone enchanted by the hinterland's rainforest ridges and valleys that are fast being subsumed by suburbia up and down the coast. * Brisbane News *
absorbing read * Marie Claire *
Understory reads as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls - as well as the rewards - of striving to live simply. * Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday Age *



Book Information
ISBN 9780733635960
Author Inga Simpson
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Hachette Australia
Publisher Hachette Australia
Weight(grams) 373g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 152mm * 26mm