The Understory: An Invitation to Rootedness and Resilience from the Forest Floor

by Lore Ferguson Wilbert

"Walk in the woods with me."

That's the invitation award-winning author Lore Ferguson Wilbert extends to readers in The Understory.

On this journey, Wilbert shares her story of alienation and disorientation after years of religious and political unrest in the evangelical church. In doing so, she looks to an unlikely place--the forest--to learn how to live and even thrive when everything seems to be falling apart. What can we learn from eroding soil, the decomposition process, the time it takes to grow lichen, the beauty of fiddlehead ferns, the regeneration of self-sowing seeds, and walking through the mud? Here, among the understory of the forest, Wilbert discovers rich metaphors for living a rooted and flourishing life within the complex ecosystems of our world. Her tenderness and honesty will help readers grieve, remember, hope, and press on with resilience.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Faith, Nature, Christian, Spirituality, Audiobook

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2024

Reviews

[Kayt · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I write this review, I am aware that some people will roll their eyes at my 5-stars. Truthfully, I know that sometimes I am over-zealous or too generous with my ratings, but please hear me when I say -- this book deserves all 5.

I've been following the work of Lore Ferguson Wilbert for around a year now, and I am consistently captivated by her work- through her substack blog posts and her last book, "A Curious Faith," she has really snagged my heart. But this book, THIS BOOK ... I've never read anything quite like it. And I'm not sure I even possess the right words to be able to explain why it should undoubtedly be the next book you purchase, check out, or add to your wish list.

If you (like me) have found yourself crushed, splintered, fractured, or pushed to the very edge- this book is for you. If you feel like the rug has been swiped from under your feet in some area of your life- this book is for you. If you feel like you are constantly caught dangling in the tension of the in-between, the maybe, the neither here nor there- this book is for YOU. This book is a tether, a oxygen-mask-esque reminder that though we may find ourselves pushed to the very edge, we are never pushed over. That we are eternally in the process of becoming, and are surrounded by others in various states of becoming as well. That life is hard, but we are hardy.

If you desire to be "at peace and in place" (Wendell Berry) then hello, friend, you have found the right book for your journey. May it serve as the welcome mat that lies at the foot of the threshold of "being here." Adsum.

[Monica Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I hadn’t meant to become so isolated, stuck with those who were mostly like me…For a long time, I’d felt afraid to be with those who weren’t like me, afraid I’d veer off into beliefs or practices that would dishonor God. But the opposite happened. The more unstuck from my echo chambers and groupthink environments I became, the less I felt the need for approval…,the more spacious my heart became, and the more I just wanted to be a person who loved Jesus and let the rest of it work itself out…”

I love the layers of this book. I love the time Lore spends sharing details from her moving to, settling in and sauntering in the Adirondacks. I love her ability to honestly share the conflicting inner workings of her head and heart as the 2016 election gave way to the pandemic and the ripples after, particularly in her relationships with others and especially Jesus.

‘The Understory’ is part memoir, part thesis on an ecosystem and an achingly beautiful call to keep walking with one another in curiosity and kindness.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars—minus .5 star because I felt the book leaned too heavily on quotations from other writers. Probably could have summarized more while still giving credit

As someone who has followed Lore’s writing for years (primarily on her original blog), walking with her through this book as she remembers and reflects upon the winding road of life and grief and growth is particularly special. I love how she draws lessons from nature, namely the forest floor, that lend wisdom for navigating life and relationships, especially in some of the most difficult and uncomfortable circumstances.

I’ll always be thankful for Lore’s writing and how her thoughtfulness and care have influenced my own thinking and spiritual journey.

[Abby Helmuth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I looked forward so much to reading this book - maybe that’s part of the reason I was so disappointed by the reading experience? I’ve been following along with Lore’s writings on Sayable for a while now, and usually love what she has to say and the way she writes. I also really enjoyed her book A Curious Faith.

However, I think this book really highlighted some differences in personality and theology between Lore and I. I felt uncomfortable and frustrated much of the time while reading, and I’m still trying to pinpoint all of the reasons for that. It seemed like she was rejecting church and communities of similar mindsets, while at the same time advocating for sort of a utopian version of community where we trust that every person is on their own journey toward spiritual wholeness and don’t push people to change their mindsets about anything.

It’s not that I didn’t draw any wisdom and inspiration from this book (there were some true gems!) but I just felt like I had to trudge through a lot of questions and confusion (much scribbling in the margins!) in order to get there. I also have to note that for the first half or so of the book, many of the words that struck me the most were not her own. She heavily quotes from others, and while that can be okay, her own writing didn’t really shine through and take over until the last couple chapters.

Biggest positive takeaway is the encouragement to acknowledge where we are exactly (whether physically, spiritually, or emotionally) and trust that God is with us and working in us even when things seem dead in some sense.

[Shawn Smucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book for these times when everything feels fractured.

[Randy Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine, but based on the jacket description I certainly was confused as to what it actually was. I was looking more for a book on Christian deconstruction and then (with the forest floor, understory) a rebuilding of Christian faith. This is more of a nature travel guide and the author’s deconstruction is not Christianity but of right wing Trump loving Christianity and that is a far less interesting and completely different thing.

[Colton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will not lie and say that I'm a religious person. Some days I do not even know if I consider myself a believer. I do know that I'm passionately curious about a great deal of things. One of them being the divine. Another one of them being the natural world around us. Though I don't actively seek out works regarding the Christian experience or Christian living, Lore Wilbert is an auto-read author for me. And, dare I even say, she makes it easier to believe in the existence of the holy.

Throughout my life I have sought solace outside. Among weeds, trees, fungi, and the animals that call those ecosystems home. I love camping and hiking and swimming and stargazing. I have called the Appalachian mountains of Southwest Virginia home. I have called the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains of the northeast home. I have called the peninsula nestled between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean home for most of my life. In short, my sense of wonder is steeped in the access to nature that I have been afforded in my 27 years. That's a holy thing, I think.

Throughout my life, I have been preached to. Preached at. I have been a congregant of a Methodist church, a Baptist church, and a Catholic church. I have learned ritual and been baptized in a pool of cool water while a building full of people celebrated my choice. I have found home in the church body. Far more often, I have felt othered by the church body. I was raised to be a believer. I used to call myself one. I do not know what I would call myself these days in that regard. I have asked a bunch of questions. I have been on many walks. I have so many more questions to ponder before I can land someplace. That's a holy thing, too.

Lore does this thing in each of her books that I enjoy and respect. She asks questions. She wrote a whole book about questions and asking them. This book is about something different, but each chapter is still riddled with questions that make the reading experience something else entirely. It's almost like you're in discussion with her as opposed to just reading her words. I have learned more about myself by reading books written by Lore simply because she makes the reading experience a more active one.

I enjoyed The Understory very much. Intermingling the divine with the natural and showing us that among the moss and nursemaids and ferns and trees is a holy place. That we are whole and holy in our just being here, in the moment. Not needing to strive to become a certain thing. Not in adopting a political ideology or a religious one or a stance. That the most holy thing that we could do is be like Jesus which is be like the forest which is be in community and help your neighbors.

Spirit-led. Everything Lore has written is spirit-led and I am a better person after having read her words. I wish I could thank her for her work and for sharing it with us.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understory by Lore Ferguson Wilbert is an interesting mix of memoir, environmental commentary and politically influenced thoughts from one Christian's perspective. These elements are accompanied by an examination of faith (specifically evangelical) through the unique lense of nature, more specifically the forest, with some Bible verses, literary quotes and many other books referenced.

I enjoy reading naturalist literature, and reading in this genre from a Christian perspective was a unique experience.

This book was like a meandering stream with some rivulets branching off here and there, rather than a pipeline of information running direct from one place to another. I'm admittedly conditioned to books and articles with a certain number of bullet points and bam-bam-bam, you're done. Rather than rush through and nod at each of the points and instantly move on to the next thing without much thought, I found Understory to be taken and relished in smaller doses to give more time to ponder the things that were said and how I might apply it to my own faith and life. Once this book is published, I would love to get a paper copy of my own to read through again and underline, bookmark, and otherwise mark up.

This could be a good book to read through and discuss with a group of friends who know ahead of time what it's about and are willing to have an open mind and think beyond what we may have been told or raised to think. We could all learn and grow if we seek to listen and understand, but we need to talk about issues (and work out solutions) sometimes, rather than ignore them. This could be a start.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance digital copy of this book. All opinions and commentary I've posted here are my own.

[Kathryn]

I am not sure how to rate this so leaving the stars blank.

I would call The Understory thoughtful and thought-provoking. I very much enjoyed the nature writing and a lot of the author’s observations on grief and relationships.

I can tell there are areas in which I disagree with the author, and that is a good thing, as a main message of this book is getting along with those with whom you don’t agree. However, I found it frustrating at times that while she wrote about the polarization of opinions and made a call for unity over dissension, she would use a broadbrush to paint those with different beliefs than her, even though she didn’t want to be painted with the same brush. For example, if you vote a certain way, then you hold all the negative connotations that go with that party, but if she votes a different way, she does so in a nuanced manner (e.g. she is not a Republican, but states that she is pro-life, yet she paints all Republicans as vehement in their belief that all non-Republicans are abortionists).

While I know this is not a Christian living title (the author specifically stated that in one of her emails around the release of this book) it does come from a Christian publisher, and a Christian view, so I was a little disappointed that there didn’t seem to be a stand for core beliefs – but perhaps that was beyond the scope of the book. This passage stuck with me as true and yet not the whole truth:

Jesus lived his life on earth dealing not with a series of problems, but with a community of persons. Instead of labeling whole swaths of groups in or out, Jesus met the lame man at the temple and the woman at the well and the father of the demoniac and the bleeding woman and the cheating tax collector and the begging children and the self righteous leaders and the zealots and centurions and lepers. He didn’t categorize a person based on what they did for work or did to survive or did because it’s all they ever knew to do. He encountered them just as they were, there in front of him, and helped them to belong more wholly or to move to a space where they could flourish. His whole ministry was one of saying, “You have been there, but I came to put you here. Here – in me – is where you will thrive and bloom and belong.“

Well, yes, I suppose that’s one way to describe what Christ did, but it’s a way to discuss conversion and following Christ without having to discuss sin and that feels like an incomplete message. He came to seek and save the lost – meeting and loving them where they are and also telling them to go and sin no more. Again, I might be overreaching the scope of this book, but it was a frustrating to read a passage like that that has Jesus described as love without justice or hatred of sin.

Ultimately a thoughtful little book that I enjoyed reading and that made me think (if not necessarily on the topics that the author intended me to).

[Loraena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gift. Often, when I open any book or article, I am making a conscious choice to read. I want to know what the author is trying to say, or learn about something, be up on the scuttlebutt, join the conversation, etc, etc. But every once in a while, I happen upon a writer whose words I read unconsciously, because I'm instantly immersed in the authors world. Lore Wilbert is one of those writers - once I've read a word or two, I just keep going. That, I think, is how we know the true writers from those of us who just write.

I am not a person who is particularly interested in nature. When I walk in the woods I tend to be preoccupied with my own thoughts and despite my best intentions, observing the nature happening around me is something I have to consciously work at. But here, Lore integrates the life of the mind with the life of the forest in a way that will help me utilize the former to enjoy more of the latter, if that makes sense. She made me want to spend time in nature and when I do, I'll have a better understanding and context for what I am seeing.

This book is a love letter to the Adirondacks and forests everywhere, but it's more than that. It's a love letter to life and a reckoning with grief and change and endings. Lore helps us reconcile the painful, broken, and fractured places in our souls with the longings we have for wholeness, belonging, and redemption.

There is a slowness to this book that fed my soul. As I read, I felt startled as again and again when Lore's own experiences, or rather the way she talked about them, resonated with my own. The book put its proverbial finger on my wounds and homelessness and disorientation in ways I scarcely know how to talk about and certainly did not expect to find in this book. I was taken aback, but it was in the best possible, lump-in-the-throat way. I rarely read books twice, but I may return to this one.

[Sarah Butterfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

With grief and resilience as its subject matter, I wasn’t sure this book was for me. But as I turned the pages, I was reminded of the many losses I have faced, and Lore’s insights about growth and renewal (from her own life, and from the life of the forest floor) were a balm to my soul. This is not your typical how-to book, rather it's a woven tapestry of reflections, essays, and meditations about the nature of loss, love, community and belonging. There is so much gentle wisdom and insight in this book, I highly recommend it!

[Kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I jump at the chance to read anything written by Lore. In this one she allows us a peek into some of the challenges she’s faced-health, family, relationship, circumstance, etc. She shares some of the things she has learned and is learning through these circumstances. She gently challenges the reader to reflect on our own challenges, the people around us, and the world. Throughout, she takes us on a walk through the woods. It’s a beautifully gentle hike with plenty of time to enjoy the small wonders that we see and a few tough spots to navigate through as well. If you are human and have lived through the past 5 years, I highly encourage you to pick this one up.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I’ve followed and enjoyed Lore’s perspective for many years and as an avid hiker (saunter-er?) although more in the Blue Ridge/Smokies than the Adirondacks, I would never pass up an invitation to walk in the woods together. I found the walk to be helpful in processing if not offering a remedy to the disorientation of the last few years in culture and church and relationships. And more than once I snapped a photo of a section or sent a quote to friends to spark a deepening conversation. I’m grateful to have taken this walk together.

[Regina Glick · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of a few books that met me where I was and felt like a warm hug

[Heidi Chiavaroli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I may have said this a lot recently, but this book is one of the best I've read this year. So though-provoking, so good! Lore echoed so much of my own experience in the past as what I've come to think of as being a "Christian misfit." ;)

With beautiful, poetic words, The Understory drew me in to a deeper love for the forest, God, and humanity. So well-done and highly recommend!

Quote: "Could we choose to build diverse and robust communities full of people with diverse and robust convictions and ideas and stories? Could we decide in advance that we will not demonize the different or cauterize the conflicts? Could we embrace the dandelions and clovers and even the thistles for what they bring--even if the only thing they bring is something unexpected, something a little different, something a little wild?"

[Stephanie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

(It’s really 4.5 ⭐️ but I round up when I need to)

What I admired was Lore Ferguson Wilbert’s courage to lay bare her soul as she wrestles with grief upon grief, and doesn’t cut herself slack at the expense of others.

I loved how she pondered how we can all be open-handed with others and see the person not the issues. (As Carlos Whittaker says, don’t stand on issues, walk with people - perhaps in a forest?)

I’m looking forward to having a physical book to mark up, or perhaps I should’ve read more in the outdoors to really get the feel of this book.

I think I expected a bigger “this is what we all can do to treat one another better” and Lore’s scope is smaller than that - but perhaps even more important. It’s her personal grief in relationships so I get why she isn’t trying to change the world, just her world.

Thanks NetGalley and Brazos Press for an advanced copy.

[Makiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brave

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a treasure! It is Lore Ferguson Wilbert’s third book to date, and in my opinion it is her best yet—which is saying something, since her first two were top notch.

In this little bitty book, Wilbert invites us to join her on a forest trek in which she shares her journey of grieving a series of compounding losses—any single one of which would be life-shattering—with the intention of showing the reader “a grief so common you can face your own.” She does so by sharing her personal experiences, but she intermixes them with insights she discovered in the midst of her grieving about the hidden life–death cycle found on the forest floor. Yet she rarely, tells you how those insights should or do relate to the human experience of loss and grief. Instead she gently uncovers them and lets them stand on their own for the reader to glean the specific insights or soul nourishment that each may need.

Ultimately, this book reads like a patchwork quilt of memories, experiences, losses, discoveries, conversations, and memorials. It offers companionship and comfort, never saying too little or too much, infusing just enough quiet breathing room for the hurting heart to be able to receive and digest. And what a balm that is!

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having experienced a measure of loss during the pandemic and the last four tumultuous years, reading this book was like taking a long walk with a good friends who gets it. Lore Wilbert describes these losses as "deaths without funerals" - and offered the sympathetic ear my funeral-less losses left me aching for. Lore's writing is beautiful, easy, and surprisingly profound. She not only offers comfort, but a hopeful way forward that doesn't look away from the mess of our moment, but deep into it for a responsible, honest, and joyful way of being. I leave this book feeling a bit wiser and a bit braver, but mostly more grounded - in life, death, and all the messy beauty in between.

[Lauren Rasmussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lore Wilbert’s latest reads like a walk in the woods hand in hand with a dear friend. The blend of the healing and learning she’s done in the woods, layered with her observations of the challenges of recent relational, political and environmental events, offers a different lens for our layered role in community and what it might look like to heal with time. This is one I’ll return to time and again.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt this book was a much needed conversation with a friend. After a long and challenging couple of years, it just was a book that reminded me - it’s going to be alright.

I was thankful to be able to read it a little early. I will pass it along to another person that needs to be reminded that it’s one step at a time, one day at a time.

[Natalie Herr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written, reflective little book touching on some of life’s great questions. Wilbert weaves in connections with nature, especially her local area (the Adirondacks). It is a gentle read, but with deep roots.

[Traci Rhoades · Rating 5 out of 5]

For nature lovers. Also for those who realize we have much to learn from closer examination of nature's many parts - including trees. This read like a lament. Really beautiful writing.

[Mike Estes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painting a picture with words is a skill and Lore did a fabulous job of that. Reading this I felt like I was sojourning through the forests of the Adirondacks. I felt seen and heard. I wept an I laughed. I'd give this book a couple more stars if I could.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful writer Lore Ferguson Wilbert is, her writing with sensitive insight into human nature is just glorious. Lore knows deep grief intimately, she’s grieved the loss of her brother at a very young age, she’s faced the crushing pain of not being able to have children, she’s faced alienation from friends and family because of her political and pandemic opinions and more recently she was shunned by her local church for highlighting child abuse within its midst. She has faced more grief and loss in her 40 years than most of us face in a lifetime. Through examining the understory of the forest and drawing on her own love of nature she finds soul restoration. Surveying how the forest survives, regenerates and flourishes under harsh conditions becomes a metaphor for survival in her own life. Her honesty about her struggles is deeply moving and brought me to tears at times but ultimately it’s a book about hope, community and love. I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough. I received an advance copy of this book, a favourable review was not required and all opinions expressed here are my own.

[lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is everything i love.  breathtaking nature observations, thoughtful reflections on being human, connections drawn to the life of the soul.  in 'the understory,' lore met me right where i am and gently challenged me to think deeply, embrace complexity, and be present - here.  so poignant and personal, the words brought me along - like we were actually on a meandering and contemplative walk in the woods.  thanks for writing, lore.

[Danita · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED it. Lore's writing is my favorite. Several pages were so beautiful and profound that I stopped and stared at a wall for a minute. I think she knows the times in which she writes. This book is timely, but not trendy - relevant, without the drive to be so. Grateful to read an advance copy!

[Sarah Westfall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lore is one of my favorite writers, and The Understory is the best of her as an artist and a human person. Thoughtful. Invitational. Complex. Approachable. She helps us sink our fingers down into the dirt. This book is a gift.

[April Bumgardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have frequently heard that the more personally and specifically you write, the more universal will be the reach. Never before have I experienced that truth so closely as with this book! So many of Lore Wilbert’s hard-earned insights resonated so profoundly with me. I nearly gasped in a few places at my need for her wisdom.

Indeed, she lays out her goal: “My work is not to ask you to look at my grief and think of me but to show you a grief so common you can face your own.” Here you can hear the light paraphrasing of one of her favorite writers, Madeleine L’Engle.

From loss of friendship, family trauma, failing health, church division, and political strife, Wilbert takes us into the forest where lichen and fungi and Tree 103 all offer ancient lessons for our healing. Sturdiness, resilience, forgiveness, and belonging are all tied into the forest floor.

Whether describing her collection of ingredients for a potato leek soup or the wildness of a primeval forest in the Adirondacks, Wilbert knows how to bring readers in with her sensorial imagery. Not a how-to book, nor one that offers ready made solutions, The Understory accompanies the reader, so we might notice and boldly recognize adsum (I am here.) This is a book of quiet strength and hope.

“What if the miracle of life is that we move through belief and unbelief, doubt and faith, joy and sorrow, anger and grief, truth and faith, being as wholly ourselves as we can be in that moment?”

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ecce adsum. “Behold, here I am.” Present, rooted, at peace, in place. Growing. Alive. When darkness and difficulty surround us, what does it look or feel like to be alive in its midst?

This was a beautiful read. It’s a slow stroll through the deep woods, a mindful meditation of the forest floor. It’s part nerdy science (which I love), part contemplative practice, and part personal journey, which somehow feels like my own. It's an invitation to saunter slowly through our own wilderness, ever present to and aware of the life teeming around us, most of all in the presence of death and decay.

Skillfully directing our attention to both the macro and micro, Wilbert weaves stories of life, death, and resurrection over hundreds of years through the life of old growth trees, the nourishing work of underground networks of fungi carefully feeding the forest floor, and details the beauty and alchemy of lichen growth.

Her mindfulness of humble dirt and its making through decomposition is a reminder of our inherent interconnectedness and interdependence. In observing the hidden life in rich soil, we are provided a glimpse of resurrection at work in the aftermath of death and deconstruction. In understanding the detrimental effects of a monoculture, we gain the openness, wildness, and benefits of true diversity.

By carefully examining the understory, Wilbert reveals what Thomas Merton calls “a hidden wholeness” not just in a ll things, but in death. She wrestles with complexity and nuance around ideas like grief, loss, death, decay, deconstruction, and belonging.

This book felt spacious. Inviting. Refreshing. Restful. Like a well-earned panoramic view from the summit. If you’re looking for a fresh look at faith, deconstruction, and the possibility of new life, take a slow stroll through The Understory.