I was hesitant to read this book. The blurb gave me the impression of a doom and gloom story about the state of Antarctica, and I wasn't sure I was up for it. Luckily, my impressions were wrong, and I instead found a beautifully honest book about becoming a parent during the climate crisis.
This is Elizabeth Rush's second book, and like her first, it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Rush is no stranger to writing about the on-the-ground impacts of climate change; her first book, Rising, documents the effects of rising sea levels in various American communities through first-hand testimonials and stories from local experts. In The Quickening, Rush recounts her experience onboard a scientific cruise to Thwaites Glacier. While witnessing the front line of climate change, Rush simultaneously grapples with more personal concerns - her and her husband's decision to start a family when she returns, and how she lives with 50-odd strangers in the meantime.
In doing so, Rush provides a story not just about climate change and its impact on Antarctica, but on reconciling this with the humanity of family and community in our everyday lives. She explores the power of human relationships, and asks herself what it means to be a parent when the future of the planet is at stake. She determines that "to have a child means having faith that the world will change, and more importantly, committing to being part of the change yourself."
Rush draws on the ocean and glacier throughout the book. For example, while contemplating climate action, she reflects that "perhaps the line between individual and collective action is not nearly as static as I've been imagining; perhaps they're reciprocal, with one giving way to the other, then flowing back again." She similarly uses the theme of birth to provide new perspectives. In thinking about the basis of community, she concludes "there is no end to what we give one another and what we owe... every single being on earth was born through the innate generosity of a body".
The way the themes in this story are almost magically intertwined makes this book feel more poetic than scientific, despite the subject matter. As a result, it's a book you can't put down but come away from with new ideas and knowledge. I don't often read books more than once, but this is one I will read again.
Guest Reviewer: Jess Oakeshott
