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Nature Lessons: A Novel
A first-rate, beautifully-written novel about an émigré living in the States who goes back to her native South Africa to look for her missing mother--a fictional debut that will be a draw both to critics and to readers of fine, accessible fiction
Set against a backdrop of South Africa's troubled history, natural beauty, and complex contemporary society, Nature Lessons is a riveting story of a forty-year-old woman, Kate Jensen, struggling to come to terms with the legacy of growing up with a mentally ill mother--including an inability to form long-term, committed relationships--and the guilt she feels as a white person who grew up during the apartheid era.
Leavened with humor and full of wisdom gained from a childhood where nature's lessons were all too visible to ignore, Lynette Brasfield has written a heartbreaking but ultimately affirming novel about growing up in the shadow of mental illness.
Set against a backdrop of South Africa's troubled history, natural beauty, and complex contemporary society, Nature Lessons is a riveting story of a forty-year-old woman, Kate Jensen, struggling to come to terms with the legacy of growing up with a mentally ill mother--including an inability to form long-term, committed relationships--and the guilt she feels as a white person who grew up during the apartheid era.
Leavened with humor and full of wisdom gained from a childhood where nature's lessons were all too visible to ignore, Lynette Brasfield has written a heartbreaking but ultimately affirming novel about growing up in the shadow of mental illness.
- GenresFiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 22, 2018
Although this is a novel, it reads so realistically that I kept thinking it was memoir. The main character grows up as a white girl in Apartheid South Africa with a mentally unstable and paranoid mother. One of those set ups would have made for an interesting story, but the combination is what makes it memorable. The book sticks with you because of the good character development and details. It is also part mystery, as the adult girl, who has immigrated to the US, returns to South Africa to find her mother and try to understand their past better in the political context of the day.
I also like how the relationship between the daughter and mother changed over time and we see the complexity of loving someone who struggles with mental illness.
I enjoyed the writing as well as the story. A few gems:
Once, a long time ago, I had loved my mother.
In the mornings, she slept late, sweating in the sun pooling through the window onto our beds. Sometimes before I left to catch the bus, I’d watch her eyelids tremble and wonder what it must be like to be her, to think the way she thought. Her brain must sound like a cageful of wild, demented birds.
When I was small I’d worshiped my mother. I used to follow her around the garden, watching as she inspected her flowers—every daisy seemed important. She was prettier than all her friends, the ones who’d appear on Friday afternoons to play bridge. ... When had my mother changed? I couldn’t remember. It was too long ago. I had been too young. I listened to her sobs, thinking of a line for a Yeats poem we’d been studying: How can we know the dancer from the dance? How could I tell my mother from her illness?
I also like how the relationship between the daughter and mother changed over time and we see the complexity of loving someone who struggles with mental illness.
I enjoyed the writing as well as the story. A few gems:
Once, a long time ago, I had loved my mother.
In the mornings, she slept late, sweating in the sun pooling through the window onto our beds. Sometimes before I left to catch the bus, I’d watch her eyelids tremble and wonder what it must be like to be her, to think the way she thought. Her brain must sound like a cageful of wild, demented birds.
When I was small I’d worshiped my mother. I used to follow her around the garden, watching as she inspected her flowers—every daisy seemed important. She was prettier than all her friends, the ones who’d appear on Friday afternoons to play bridge. ... When had my mother changed? I couldn’t remember. It was too long ago. I had been too young. I listened to her sobs, thinking of a line for a Yeats poem we’d been studying: How can we know the dancer from the dance? How could I tell my mother from her illness?
January 17, 2022
I had to think hard before I reviewed. I grew up with a loving but nut (alcoholic) mom so I could totally relate to some of the dysfunction involved in this story. It was so real you would swear she was writing a memoir...shades of Wally Lamb.
This book was full. Angst of youth, (it is not YA) parental, adult, and peer relationships that occurred to shape a woman who seemed to turn out not too badly despite it all. There is also a mystery and the hint of suspense, that kept me interested.
All the characters were developed and the author did a good job of finishing their stories. You were not left wondering too much about what happened to the supporting characters.
The picture on the cover could be right out of my old family album. Probably lots of us have that photo.
This book was full. Angst of youth, (it is not YA) parental, adult, and peer relationships that occurred to shape a woman who seemed to turn out not too badly despite it all. There is also a mystery and the hint of suspense, that kept me interested.
All the characters were developed and the author did a good job of finishing their stories. You were not left wondering too much about what happened to the supporting characters.
The picture on the cover could be right out of my old family album. Probably lots of us have that photo.
December 17, 2007
I thoroughly enjoyed this book which travels back and forth in time without much effort on behalf of the reader. If you enjoyed the ever-popular Eat, Pray, Love, I'd recommend this book. It has a bit more of a historical backdrop to it and the characters are well-developed.
September 18, 2019
I'm the author, so I rather liked it...!
January 6, 2020
This is a journey into the difficult childhood , familytrauma and the history of apartheid in the humid city of Durban . This gives the reader a complicated puzzle of Who is guilty and Who did Speak the truth. After all the child often bear the Brunt of the trauma of the parents, forfathers, political system. The writer makes an interesting journey And iT was a real pageturner!
June 23, 2020
Interesting
April 26, 2022
Interesting view of SA from mid 1960's to mid 1990's.
April 12, 2011
Liked this a lot. Sort of a mystery novel cloaked in some wonderful writing. I saw the writer speak at an event and I enjoyed reading the book even more than I thought I would. Premise is a South African woman now living in the U.S. returns to South Africa (post-apartheid) to search for her missing mother. is the mother mentally ill? Or was she really the target of the nationalist apartheid government when the protagonist was a little girl? Beautifully written.
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March 1, 2016I stayed up far too late to finish this in one day, because I couldn't put it down and wait.
I disliked how , but it fits the narrative. However, I did feel the MC would be less able to let it go than she was in the end.
I disliked how , but it fits the narrative. However, I did feel the MC would be less able to let it go than she was in the end.
August 10, 2010
South African fiction....1960s-2000s SA....cross between Memoir and mystery: girl with paranoid mother pieces together her past.
July 2, 2012
Family intrigue, politics, love, and childhood memories intertwine in this charming and unique story set in South Africa.
December 8, 2007
set in South Africa, a poignant and intense story of a woman, her mother, and family secrets
August 21, 2015
Met the author at book club.
July 29, 2009
Altogether readable.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews