Erin Zimmerman took on a lot with this book - a look inside at a scientist's life, specifically a woman scientist's life, an insightful look at botany and and its particular challenges and rewards in this time of climate change, and the pressures and conflicts facing a well-trained, committed woman in an overwhelmingly male and highly competitive profession as she navigates her childbearing years. All of these subjects are explored in a thoughtful way, and Zimmerman's writing is fully up to the challenge.

The difficulties for a reader is that, simply put, it's a lot for one book. I don't know how one could write a meaningful book without including all these strands, for a just-about-the-science book would be interesting but perhaps misleading, as talking about a demanding career about which one is passionate without including the personal costs - costs that are different from those extracted from men in this profession - would be a gross distortion. I only mention this because there were points where I had to put the book down and allow myself to process what I had read before I could continue.

That said, it was worth it, and I will be thinking about this book for a while to come, and particularly when I consider the difficult choices we, as a society, have to make for the future of this planet and all the living things on it.

A very interesting read for any plant lover! However, I would not pick this up if you are expecting a motherhood memoir or an examination of modern motherhood. While motherhood is briefly discussed in the last quarter it is not the central theme in the book. This is a book about Botany. It felt like the motherhood aspects were added as a sales feature to gain a wider readership. Never the less I really enjoyed this book. Having studied horticulture in university I could relate to the authors love of plants. The book is well written and adventurous and describes the academic world perfectly. There were a few repetitive sections but the overall form and narrative were well done. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about biology, botany, or the natural sciences. My only wish is that the book would have including a simple diagram of a flower and tree for readers who are not well versed in plant biology. I think it would have made sections of the book more accessible for readers who are unfamiliar with plants.

Unrooted is one scientist’s story of what led her to the field of Botany, the changes she witnessed within the grind of academia as she pursued her PhD, and the impossibility of finding employment in her field after proudly earning her doctorate (a situation made dramatically worse once she became a mother). Erin Zimmerman writes in a clear and engaging voice — whether describing the electric jolt of reading Charles Darwin’s own handwriting on a specimen’s label at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, or the indignity of having to squirrel herself away in a musty change room to pump breast milk as a postdoc, this is a beautiful blend of memoir, science history, and an impassioned defence of the importance of her disappearing field of expertise. This is exactly the sort of thing I like — I learned a lot and was affected, heart and mind; I couldn’t ask for more and wish Dr Zimmerman nothing but success.

An illuminating read about the unique challenges woman face in science most especially if they chose to have families.

This was incredibly interesting. I've been interested in learning more about this for a long time and found it to be easy to read and informative.

Fascinating , intriguing and beautiful written Unrooted brings readers into the world of natural history in an approachable and meaningful way highlighting this important scientific work and how many women as slowly being pushed out of science because motherhood is not accommodated and space is not made for a women to hold both roles.
Highly recommend and will be interested to see what she writes next.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the early digital copy