Things in Nature Merely Grow
Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on May 20, 2025, is a poignant exploration of loss and acceptance. In this 192-page work, Li reflects on the profound grief following the suicides of her two sons, Vincent and James. She confronts the reality of their deaths with a raw honesty, acknowledging the limitations of language in expressing such deep sorrow. Through her reflections, she seeks to find meaning and connection in the face of unimaginable pain.
In this edition, readers will encounter Li’s journey as she engages in various activities—writing, gardening, and studying philosophy—as a means of coping with her grief. The narrative emphasizes the enduring presence of her sons in her life, illustrating that while they are no longer physically present, their essence remains. This book touches on themes of grief, acceptance, and the complexities of parenting in the wake of loss, offering insights into the human experience of mourning.
Official synopsis Publisher
Yiyun Li’s remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance as she considers the loss of her son James.
“There is no good way to say this,” Yiyun Li writes at the beginning of this book.
“There is no good way to state these facts, which must be acknowledged . . . My husband and I had two children and lost them both: Vincent in 2017, at sixteen, James in 2024, at nineteen. Both chose suicide, and both died not far from home.”
There is no good way to say this—because words fall short. It takes only an instant for death to become fact, “a single point in a time line.” Living now on this single point, Li turns to thinking and reasoning and searching for words that might hold a place for James. Li does what she can: doing “things that work,” including not just writing but gardening, reading Camus and Wittgenstein, learning the piano, and living thinkingly alongside death.
This is a book for James, but it is not a book about grieving or mourning. As Li writes, “The verb that does not die is ‘to be.’ Vincent was and is and will always be Vincent. James was and is and will always be James. We were and are and will always be their parents. There is no now and then, now and later; only now and now and now and now.” Things in Nature Merely Grow is a testament to Li’s indomitable spirit.
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