Mother, Nature

A contemplative and poignant memoir from the bestselling author of To Shake the Sleeping Self.

When his mother, Barbara, turned 70, Jedidiah Jenkins was reminded of a sobering reality: our parents won't live forever. For years, he and his mother, Barbara, had talked about taking a trip together, just the two of them. They landed on an idea: retrace the thousands of miles Barbara trekked with Jedidiah's father as part of the "Walk Across America" that became a sensation in the 1970s. And they would do it, as Barbara said, "Before an earthquake or asteroid destroys the world."

From New Orleans to the Oregon coast, listening to podcasts about serial killers- the only media they could agree on - they relived the trek that changed Barbara's life. Jenkins revisits who she was as a 30-year-old writer walking across America; who she was later, as a wife scorned by infidelity; and now, as a parent who loves her son while holding on to a faith that sees his sexuality as a sin. Along the way, Jenkins peels back universal questions of belonging, respect, and inheritance. What is our duty to our parents? How do we have hard conversations with the people we love? How do we make sense of the surprising directions life takes us in, and the differences that push us apart?

Tender, witty, and ultimately profound, Mother Nature is an unforgettable mother-son adventure story and a journey into our most pressing questions today.