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When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy
How the Word Is Passed
meets Braiding Sweetgrass in a cultural and personal reclamation of Black history and Black botanical mastery, told through the stories of long-lived trees.
The histories of trees in America are also the histories of Black Americans. Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycamore trees were both havens and signposts for people trying to escape enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark has offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complexity of the Black American narrative but also to a heritage of Black botanical expertise that, like Native American traditions, predates the United States entirely.
In When Trees Testify, award-winning plant biologist Beronda L. Montgomery explores the way seven trees—as well as the cotton shrub—are intertwined with Black history and culture. She reveals how knowledge surrounding these trees has shaped America since the very beginning. As Montgomery shows, trees are material witnesses to the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Combining the wisdom of science and history with stories from her own path to botany, Montgomery talks to majestic trees, and in this unique and compelling narrative, they answer.
The histories of trees in America are also the histories of Black Americans. Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycamore trees were both havens and signposts for people trying to escape enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark has offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complexity of the Black American narrative but also to a heritage of Black botanical expertise that, like Native American traditions, predates the United States entirely.
In When Trees Testify, award-winning plant biologist Beronda L. Montgomery explores the way seven trees—as well as the cotton shrub—are intertwined with Black history and culture. She reveals how knowledge surrounding these trees has shaped America since the very beginning. As Montgomery shows, trees are material witnesses to the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Combining the wisdom of science and history with stories from her own path to botany, Montgomery talks to majestic trees, and in this unique and compelling narrative, they answer.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 20, 2026
181 people are currently reading
15349 people want to read
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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was a beautiful book, and sad.
***
Pre-Read Notes:
I love popular science books, and I really love trees. The concept of this book, which braids natural history (trees) and human history (Black American science history), sounded interesting to me.
"Encountering one of the massive, hundreds-of-years-old oak trees that still stand in a variety of places in the United States can feel life changing. The first time I visited the campus of Hampton University, a historically Black college and university in Virginia, I came upon a majestic, thickly canopied oak tree . The sheer size of this being took my breath away." p129
Final Review:
(thoughts & recs) This is an interesting piece of nonfiction because of the form. Considering the history of different recognizable tree species in the US through the dizzying lens of USian history of slavery and racism creates a memorable read. I may have come for the trees but I stayed for my fellow humans and the history we all share.
WHEN TREES TESTIFY is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Sasha Bonét's THE WATERBEARERS. For fans of memoir that apply a historical lens.
My Favorite Things:
✔️ "That day, I feared that I would have to confront one of my greatest fears: that non-Black Americans who might not understand the deep and lasting trauma of chattel slavery to the enslaved and their descendants in the United States would be going about the land with joy and reckless curiosity, rather than a deep appreciation for the disturbing, but very real, history that continued to soak the soils." p11 She inviting us in here, but requesting reverence.
✔️ This book is revealing in a few different ways, one being the extensive wisdom it contains on survival botony. Like this: "We also learned the critical lesson of distinguishing blackberry bushes from poison oak. Mom taught me the concept of “if there are three, let it be.” This worked because poison oak, which makes clustered fruit that could be mistaken for unripe blackberries, has compound leaves with three leaflets, whereas wild blackberry was in the “if there are five, let it thrive” category of plants that are not likely to be harmful and possess compound leaves with five leaflets." p48
✔️ My favorite section was the one on oaks. I grew up with a giant old oak on my yard and I remember it like a friend. "Quercus virginiana, the southern live oak, is perhaps the most widely recognized species. Some of the iconic photos of large, spreading southern live oaks that are hundreds to a thousand years old are the Q. virginiana species from the southeastern part of the United States where the trees are prevalent. They persist in this area for hundreds of years due to the generally warmer winter climates of this region. Distinct from deciduous varieties, live oaks maintain leaves on their branches throughout much of the year. In the spring, as new leaves are produced, their emergence and expansion results in the dropping of the prior year’s leaves." p128
✔️ I adored the section on the Apple tree, specifically the passages about St. Nicholas and Christmas bags.
Content Notes: racism, racist language, casual racism, institutional racism, slavery, intergenerational trauma, white supremacy,
Thank you to the author Beronda L. Montgomery, Henry Holt & Co., and NetGalley for an accessible digital copy of WHEN TREES TESTIFY. All views are mine.
***
Pre-Read Notes:
I love popular science books, and I really love trees. The concept of this book, which braids natural history (trees) and human history (Black American science history), sounded interesting to me.
"Encountering one of the massive, hundreds-of-years-old oak trees that still stand in a variety of places in the United States can feel life changing. The first time I visited the campus of Hampton University, a historically Black college and university in Virginia, I came upon a majestic, thickly canopied oak tree . The sheer size of this being took my breath away." p129
Final Review:
(thoughts & recs) This is an interesting piece of nonfiction because of the form. Considering the history of different recognizable tree species in the US through the dizzying lens of USian history of slavery and racism creates a memorable read. I may have come for the trees but I stayed for my fellow humans and the history we all share.
WHEN TREES TESTIFY is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Sasha Bonét's THE WATERBEARERS. For fans of memoir that apply a historical lens.
My Favorite Things:
✔️ "That day, I feared that I would have to confront one of my greatest fears: that non-Black Americans who might not understand the deep and lasting trauma of chattel slavery to the enslaved and their descendants in the United States would be going about the land with joy and reckless curiosity, rather than a deep appreciation for the disturbing, but very real, history that continued to soak the soils." p11 She inviting us in here, but requesting reverence.
✔️ This book is revealing in a few different ways, one being the extensive wisdom it contains on survival botony. Like this: "We also learned the critical lesson of distinguishing blackberry bushes from poison oak. Mom taught me the concept of “if there are three, let it be.” This worked because poison oak, which makes clustered fruit that could be mistaken for unripe blackberries, has compound leaves with three leaflets, whereas wild blackberry was in the “if there are five, let it thrive” category of plants that are not likely to be harmful and possess compound leaves with five leaflets." p48
✔️ My favorite section was the one on oaks. I grew up with a giant old oak on my yard and I remember it like a friend. "Quercus virginiana, the southern live oak, is perhaps the most widely recognized species. Some of the iconic photos of large, spreading southern live oaks that are hundreds to a thousand years old are the Q. virginiana species from the southeastern part of the United States where the trees are prevalent. They persist in this area for hundreds of years due to the generally warmer winter climates of this region. Distinct from deciduous varieties, live oaks maintain leaves on their branches throughout much of the year. In the spring, as new leaves are produced, their emergence and expansion results in the dropping of the prior year’s leaves." p128
✔️ I adored the section on the Apple tree, specifically the passages about St. Nicholas and Christmas bags.
Content Notes: racism, racist language, casual racism, institutional racism, slavery, intergenerational trauma, white supremacy,
Thank you to the author Beronda L. Montgomery, Henry Holt & Co., and NetGalley for an accessible digital copy of WHEN TREES TESTIFY. All views are mine.
February 16, 2026
With her late January 2026 When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy botanist (in other words plant biologist) Beronda L. Montgomery enlighteningly (and also at times painfully) combines and fuses together personal memoir, history and science to skilfully examine the significance of trees in Black (in African American) history and culture (focusing on seven trees in particular, on pecan, sycamore, willow, poplar, oak, mulberry and apple trees, each of which, along with the cotton shrub bears witness to enslavement, a legacy of racism but that these trees are also symbols of emancipation, perseverance and self determination).
Thus and yes, yes, yes, a totally wonderful, educational as well as delightfully engaging personal reading experience When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy has been (and a book that I am not only going to be hugely treasuring but which I will also be reading more than once since for one my first perusal of When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy was rather majorly rushed and that for two I have indeed adored Montgomery's text, her themes and contents so much, to such and extent that rereading When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy would both be an absolute textual delight and also to be honest a total necessity, something I not only want to do but also need to do).
And especially for my academic reading self with a PhD in German language and literature, I am definitely, I am certainly massively appreciating and also very much enjoying Beronda L. Montgomery textually showing me, telling me, nicely minutely dissecting in and throughout When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy and using science, history, memoir in wonderful and natural combination how trees (in general) have traditionally served the Black community as shelters, for community gatherings, for education, activism and even for worship (that sycamores for example with their huge trunks becoming hollow as they age once served as hiding places for slaves escaping from their "masters" and that part of the Underground Railroad is known as the Sycamore Trail for said reason).
But yes, Montgomery in When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy equally so (and necessarily) shows and describes how certain tree species (but of course through no fault of their own so to speak) also have tragic and traumatic associations (that for example poplars do have a horridly sordid history of being lynching trees and which according to When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy was immortalised in Billie Holiday’s 1939 protest song Strange Fruit and how in the West African kingdom of Dahomey, an oak tree became known as the Tree of Forgetting because of the sadly putrid tradition of marching captives around it several times to stress the importance of forgetting their homes and their families before departing for a life of slavery in the so-called New World). And while as a total tree lover and tree fanatic, these negative associations are bien sûr majorly personally uncomfortable, I am also both massively glad and hugely appreciative of Beronda L. Montgomery showing both the positives and the negatives regarding trees and American Black history and culture in When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy (that she does not ever downplay slavery, racism and that trees were often used for nefarious and inhumane purposed against African Americans), and yes, how Montgomery in When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy weaves in her scientific expertise and her experiences growing up around trees in Arkansas to deliver a poignant and singular account of Black American history and culture, this is totally textually lovely, this is totally verbally wonderful (and also makes my rating for When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy solidly five stars and that I do very very warmly and highly recommend When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy).
Thus and yes, yes, yes, a totally wonderful, educational as well as delightfully engaging personal reading experience When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy has been (and a book that I am not only going to be hugely treasuring but which I will also be reading more than once since for one my first perusal of When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy was rather majorly rushed and that for two I have indeed adored Montgomery's text, her themes and contents so much, to such and extent that rereading When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy would both be an absolute textual delight and also to be honest a total necessity, something I not only want to do but also need to do).
And especially for my academic reading self with a PhD in German language and literature, I am definitely, I am certainly massively appreciating and also very much enjoying Beronda L. Montgomery textually showing me, telling me, nicely minutely dissecting in and throughout When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy and using science, history, memoir in wonderful and natural combination how trees (in general) have traditionally served the Black community as shelters, for community gatherings, for education, activism and even for worship (that sycamores for example with their huge trunks becoming hollow as they age once served as hiding places for slaves escaping from their "masters" and that part of the Underground Railroad is known as the Sycamore Trail for said reason).
But yes, Montgomery in When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy equally so (and necessarily) shows and describes how certain tree species (but of course through no fault of their own so to speak) also have tragic and traumatic associations (that for example poplars do have a horridly sordid history of being lynching trees and which according to When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy was immortalised in Billie Holiday’s 1939 protest song Strange Fruit and how in the West African kingdom of Dahomey, an oak tree became known as the Tree of Forgetting because of the sadly putrid tradition of marching captives around it several times to stress the importance of forgetting their homes and their families before departing for a life of slavery in the so-called New World). And while as a total tree lover and tree fanatic, these negative associations are bien sûr majorly personally uncomfortable, I am also both massively glad and hugely appreciative of Beronda L. Montgomery showing both the positives and the negatives regarding trees and American Black history and culture in When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy (that she does not ever downplay slavery, racism and that trees were often used for nefarious and inhumane purposed against African Americans), and yes, how Montgomery in When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy weaves in her scientific expertise and her experiences growing up around trees in Arkansas to deliver a poignant and singular account of Black American history and culture, this is totally textually lovely, this is totally verbally wonderful (and also makes my rating for When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy solidly five stars and that I do very very warmly and highly recommend When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy).
February 9, 2026
"Trees hold the transformed breath of decades of human life... and testify to history and those of their past"
I learned so much American history and botany through this book. The recency of Jim Crow and sharecropping was something that really struck me while reading this book. Montgomery is GenX (she talks about being in high school in 1989) and in the cotton chapter she talks about how her mother was forced to miss school during the spring to go work the cotton fields supporting her family.
Montgomery featured 8 different plants: Pecans, sycamore, willow, poplar, mulberry, oak cotton and apple trees. With each chapter she wove together (1) her own personal history (and sometimes a travelogue) (2) the botany and biochemistry of the plant and (3) the history of the plant specifically with respect to Black Americans.
I found this structure extremely effective. I learned a lot of botany that I didn't know in an accessible and interesting way! I particularly enjoyed learning about how plants are grafted. I didn't know how that worked!
In general I was struck by the number of Black botanists who were enslaved that held so much botanical knowledge.
It reminded me a bit of the book BLACK IN BLUES where Imani Perry talks about the enslaved botanists who made the cultivation of indigo possible.
A few parts of history that will stick with me: (1) Enslaved women chewing cotton roots to prevent pregnancy (2) Blackdom, New Mexico as a Black settlement outside Roswell, NM where Jim Crow was not in effect. In Blackdom, Black Americans grew Apple Trees for their crop. (3) I had no idea that Mulberry trees were cultivated for silk production!
One small note is that there is a brief HP reference in the Willow chapter.
The setting of this book is primarily Little Rock, Arkansas, but the author also travels to many locations including Charleston, South Carolina and Blackdom, New Mexico (outside of Roswell, NM).
I highly recommend this book! Thank you for Holt books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I learned so much American history and botany through this book. The recency of Jim Crow and sharecropping was something that really struck me while reading this book. Montgomery is GenX (she talks about being in high school in 1989) and in the cotton chapter she talks about how her mother was forced to miss school during the spring to go work the cotton fields supporting her family.
Montgomery featured 8 different plants: Pecans, sycamore, willow, poplar, mulberry, oak cotton and apple trees. With each chapter she wove together (1) her own personal history (and sometimes a travelogue) (2) the botany and biochemistry of the plant and (3) the history of the plant specifically with respect to Black Americans.
I found this structure extremely effective. I learned a lot of botany that I didn't know in an accessible and interesting way! I particularly enjoyed learning about how plants are grafted. I didn't know how that worked!
In general I was struck by the number of Black botanists who were enslaved that held so much botanical knowledge.
It reminded me a bit of the book BLACK IN BLUES where Imani Perry talks about the enslaved botanists who made the cultivation of indigo possible.
A few parts of history that will stick with me: (1) Enslaved women chewing cotton roots to prevent pregnancy (2) Blackdom, New Mexico as a Black settlement outside Roswell, NM where Jim Crow was not in effect. In Blackdom, Black Americans grew Apple Trees for their crop. (3) I had no idea that Mulberry trees were cultivated for silk production!
One small note is that there is a brief HP reference in the Willow chapter.
The setting of this book is primarily Little Rock, Arkansas, but the author also travels to many locations including Charleston, South Carolina and Blackdom, New Mexico (outside of Roswell, NM).
I highly recommend this book! Thank you for Holt books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 30, 2025
When Trees Testify is Beronda L. Montgomery’s exploration of trees that are a prominent part of Black history in the United States.
Montgomery delves into a mix of personal connections to these selected species of trees, Black history connected to them, and information about the scientific makeup of the trees themselves.
Over the course of the book she introduces us to the pecan, sycamore, willow, poplar, mulberry, oak, and apple trees as well as the cotton shrub. Some of these trees share many similarities, some are very different. Many can be found not just in the southern United States but across the country and in other parts of world. They all have a shared history with those who breathed the oxygen they respirated, something given freely that was one of the only things given to Black people that suffered the indignity of having so much taken away.
Montgomery explores how the trees could bring Black people together and drive them away. How Black people used their knowledge for better farming and harvesting practices that often didn’t benefit them and medicinal and healing practices that did. Stories about the man who grafted pecan trees to commercialize them, how enslaved women would use parts of these trees to prevent pregnancy, the massacre of a Black community in Arkansas, and Blackdom, a community of Black people in New Mexico who grew apples as part of their crops are all fascinating stories.
Throughout the book she provides personal touches, tying in her own memories of gathering pecans and mulberries, holiday fruit bags with apples and oranges, and hiding away under a massive willow tree appropriately named Willow. I have my own memories of an apple tree that I was devastated to see die the first year it bore fruit. A maple tree I grew from a seed that had grown massive by the time we moved away from my childhood home. The blossoms and picking cherries from the cherry tree in our front yard. The oak tree my grandfather put a wooden swing on, and a pine tree near my grandparents’ home my brother and I would hide under, nestled in the fallen needles and enjoying the scent of the tree mixed with the nearby honeysuckle.
Occasionally it does feel like Montgomery strays too far away from the interconnected theme of trees to focus more heavily on Black history or her own personal connection to a tree. The chapter on poplars, I suspect, was particularly difficult to write and features heavily on the tree’s close connection with the many lynchings that have taken place over the years. It doesn’t seem to explore the tree itself to the same detail as other chapters.
In the chapter about apples and the conclusion, Montgomery starts exploring the role of Black people and their relationship with trees in modern times. I think doing this for each type of tree, as a form of looking to the future while exploring the past and present would have added an extra layer of depth that would have made the book even more interesting.
You probably weren’t expecting a book that combines trees and Black history, but this book makes it work, providing a unique approach to learning more about a group of people who haven’t often had their story told.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Montgomery delves into a mix of personal connections to these selected species of trees, Black history connected to them, and information about the scientific makeup of the trees themselves.
Over the course of the book she introduces us to the pecan, sycamore, willow, poplar, mulberry, oak, and apple trees as well as the cotton shrub. Some of these trees share many similarities, some are very different. Many can be found not just in the southern United States but across the country and in other parts of world. They all have a shared history with those who breathed the oxygen they respirated, something given freely that was one of the only things given to Black people that suffered the indignity of having so much taken away.
Montgomery explores how the trees could bring Black people together and drive them away. How Black people used their knowledge for better farming and harvesting practices that often didn’t benefit them and medicinal and healing practices that did. Stories about the man who grafted pecan trees to commercialize them, how enslaved women would use parts of these trees to prevent pregnancy, the massacre of a Black community in Arkansas, and Blackdom, a community of Black people in New Mexico who grew apples as part of their crops are all fascinating stories.
Throughout the book she provides personal touches, tying in her own memories of gathering pecans and mulberries, holiday fruit bags with apples and oranges, and hiding away under a massive willow tree appropriately named Willow. I have my own memories of an apple tree that I was devastated to see die the first year it bore fruit. A maple tree I grew from a seed that had grown massive by the time we moved away from my childhood home. The blossoms and picking cherries from the cherry tree in our front yard. The oak tree my grandfather put a wooden swing on, and a pine tree near my grandparents’ home my brother and I would hide under, nestled in the fallen needles and enjoying the scent of the tree mixed with the nearby honeysuckle.
Occasionally it does feel like Montgomery strays too far away from the interconnected theme of trees to focus more heavily on Black history or her own personal connection to a tree. The chapter on poplars, I suspect, was particularly difficult to write and features heavily on the tree’s close connection with the many lynchings that have taken place over the years. It doesn’t seem to explore the tree itself to the same detail as other chapters.
In the chapter about apples and the conclusion, Montgomery starts exploring the role of Black people and their relationship with trees in modern times. I think doing this for each type of tree, as a form of looking to the future while exploring the past and present would have added an extra layer of depth that would have made the book even more interesting.
You probably weren’t expecting a book that combines trees and Black history, but this book makes it work, providing a unique approach to learning more about a group of people who haven’t often had their story told.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
January 18, 2026
As a Black American I am aware of the relationship and history we have/share with trees. Yet, I still learned so much from this book. Part memoir, history, and botany. Montgomery shares with us her experiences with several different species of trees growing up and then shows us the history that Black Americans have with the same trees. It does get a little repetitive but it doesn’t take away from the information she shares as a whole. We overlook the complicated history of something as unassuming as a tree because of the beauty we see in it. Two things can be true at once and it’s important to acknowledge these things.
February 16, 2026
I learned so much in this book! I'm very impressed by how the author managed to make it a very personal book while also being so informative about both history and botany! The writing is enjoyable and I'll definitely be on the look out for Beronda L. Montgomery next books! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was very nice to listen to.
Thank you, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Thank you, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review
January 25, 2026
very interesting and well written book, a combo of memoir botany and history, all tied together well and overall very original. both frank and important discussion of anti-Black violence and history in the US, along with joy and empowerment of Black individuals. very readable and i enjoyed the audiobook!
January 25, 2026
review coming soon!
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Thank you to Henry Holt and the Author for the physical ARC of this book.
I was so excited to have won this book in a giveaway, it's just one of those books that I really enjoyed holding while reading.
The author does a fantastic job of infusing personal stories and history of tree in 8 different chapters. Each chapter focuses on one tree or shrub (cotton) but other botanicals get mentioned just the eight are the main events.
Montgomery does a thoughtful job of discussing the tree and giving you information about the tree while giving you historical information about it at the same time and infusing personal stories about herself and generations past.
It's only seven days in and I can already see this in my top 10 of 2026.
I was so excited to have won this book in a giveaway, it's just one of those books that I really enjoyed holding while reading.
The author does a fantastic job of infusing personal stories and history of tree in 8 different chapters. Each chapter focuses on one tree or shrub (cotton) but other botanicals get mentioned just the eight are the main events.
Montgomery does a thoughtful job of discussing the tree and giving you information about the tree while giving you historical information about it at the same time and infusing personal stories about herself and generations past.
It's only seven days in and I can already see this in my top 10 of 2026.
November 7, 2025
I was eager to read Beronda Montgomery's second book following her first, "Lessons from Plants", one of my personal favorites. I had high hopes for "When Trees Testify" and was not disappointed! I absolutely savored every chapter and consider it one of my top favorite reads of this year. "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer is also one of my all-time favorites and "When Trees Testify" is a fantastic companion read. I love how both Montgomery and Kimmerer recognize that they are often under-represented as women of color in their field, but are inspired by ancestral knowledge and childhood experiences to share why plants and nature can foster both a meaningful and scientific sense of wonder in our lives. I am a big fan of Montgomery's writing style of grounding each tree reflection to a personal experience and historical context for Black Americans, while still including the science background. I personally crave learning about science, but also enjoy drawing deep meaning from it. Unfortunately, Montgomery shares about her lifetime journey of carrying the weight of horrific injustice inflicted upon her ancestors, which the trees are often witness to. She shares important lesser-known history and leaves the reader with a sense of hope that ancestral reverence and knowledge is also the key to self-emancipation and healing. Montgomery's second book has solidified her as one of my favorite authors!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 27, 2026
Black Botanical Wisdom, as a Celtic white woman in the US, is the gap in spiritual reality I was looking for. Pulling from learned wisdom of indigenous people pre-colonization, the author outlines Black contributions to the field of botany. It felt like reading a memoir and also a “IMPORTANT plants of the US” at the same time. I love whatever this genre is - similar to Braiding Sweetgrass.
Each chapter is on one “plant” or tree. I learned so much about the history of these plants from their biological makeup to their sociopolitical use in media and culture. Buying a copy will be useful for marking up and revisiting at different times of life, when I want to reconnect with these plants.
Each chapter is on one “plant” or tree. I learned so much about the history of these plants from their biological makeup to their sociopolitical use in media and culture. Buying a copy will be useful for marking up and revisiting at different times of life, when I want to reconnect with these plants.
February 21, 2026
Content warnings: racism, death, slavery, rape, violence, police brutality, mentions of abortion
So here's the thing: I really did enjoy this as an examination of Black history through plants. Where this often lost me, however, was the memoir side of things. The author spends a lot of time reflecting on her own life and her personal history with these plant species, and while the stories she was telling were interesting, it very definitely made this feel like a memoir that occasionally detoured to talk about plants and that's not at all what I thought I was getting.
Maybe I would have had a different experience if I'd read it with my eyeballs?? IDK. I know I've been pretty negative here - please know that I *did* enjoy this and the chapter about cotton in particular will stick with me. I was just expecting more of the historical botany and less "I was scared to cross the train track bridge thing".
So here's the thing: I really did enjoy this as an examination of Black history through plants. Where this often lost me, however, was the memoir side of things. The author spends a lot of time reflecting on her own life and her personal history with these plant species, and while the stories she was telling were interesting, it very definitely made this feel like a memoir that occasionally detoured to talk about plants and that's not at all what I thought I was getting.
Maybe I would have had a different experience if I'd read it with my eyeballs?? IDK. I know I've been pretty negative here - please know that I *did* enjoy this and the chapter about cotton in particular will stick with me. I was just expecting more of the historical botany and less "I was scared to cross the train track bridge thing".
January 21, 2026
I liked this book but didn't love it. It tried to be a lot of things at once—part memoir, part survey of Black American history, part science writing—but I don't think the author quite succeeded at fusing the three in a satisfying way.
First the good: From the contributions of indigenous Africans' and enslaved people's botanical knowledge in the development of American agriculture, to the establishment of a free Black farming community in New Mexico (of all places), to the use of cotton root bark and apple seeds by enslaved women as abortifacients, I learned so much from this book, even though I'd consider myself pretty well versed in African-American history already. In addition, the powerful idea that trees almost literally transform suffering into beauty through the process of photosynthesis, by converting the breath of those who stood (or hung) under them into wood and flowers and oxygen, will stay with me for forever.
Now the not so good: If Montgomery had written a straight memoir, focusing on her family's roots in Arkansas and the connections to Black American history more generally, with tangential nods to the importance of specific trees to those stories, I think this book would have worked better for me. But she did the inverse, centering each chapter of the book on a tree species and then making connections from there. Sometimes that was successful—the chapter about the cotton shrub was my favorite—but more often than not, the connections drawn were either generic or repetitive. Willows and oaks and poplars and sycamores grew "strange fruit" as the sites of lynchings. Bark and seeds and leaves and roots were used as medicine and as poison. Enslaved people's botanical knowledge was exploited for cultivating pecans and silkworms and apples and cotton. When so many chapters said the same thing, it started to feel like writing for that sake of filling up pages rather than to add substance—especially unfortunate given the author's apparently rich family history that was not given nearly enough attention.
Overall, I thought the history and the science in When Trees Testify were equally fascinating. I just wish it had leaned into the family history rather than forcing a tree-centered narrative structure that, in my view, was clunky and redundant.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Thanks to Henry Holt for the advanced review copy.
First the good: From the contributions of indigenous Africans' and enslaved people's botanical knowledge in the development of American agriculture, to the establishment of a free Black farming community in New Mexico (of all places), to the use of cotton root bark and apple seeds by enslaved women as abortifacients, I learned so much from this book, even though I'd consider myself pretty well versed in African-American history already. In addition, the powerful idea that trees almost literally transform suffering into beauty through the process of photosynthesis, by converting the breath of those who stood (or hung) under them into wood and flowers and oxygen, will stay with me for forever.
Now the not so good: If Montgomery had written a straight memoir, focusing on her family's roots in Arkansas and the connections to Black American history more generally, with tangential nods to the importance of specific trees to those stories, I think this book would have worked better for me. But she did the inverse, centering each chapter of the book on a tree species and then making connections from there. Sometimes that was successful—the chapter about the cotton shrub was my favorite—but more often than not, the connections drawn were either generic or repetitive. Willows and oaks and poplars and sycamores grew "strange fruit" as the sites of lynchings. Bark and seeds and leaves and roots were used as medicine and as poison. Enslaved people's botanical knowledge was exploited for cultivating pecans and silkworms and apples and cotton. When so many chapters said the same thing, it started to feel like writing for that sake of filling up pages rather than to add substance—especially unfortunate given the author's apparently rich family history that was not given nearly enough attention.
Overall, I thought the history and the science in When Trees Testify were equally fascinating. I just wish it had leaned into the family history rather than forcing a tree-centered narrative structure that, in my view, was clunky and redundant.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Thanks to Henry Holt for the advanced review copy.
February 11, 2026
Overall a good and interesting book! I did prefer the historical and scientific portions to the memoir portions however. I also feel like the book could've benefitted from some more thoughtful structuring of the three different approaches within each tree chapter, as sometimes the (lack of) transition between a memoir/historical section to the scientific section was jarring. One section I remember went from in one sentence discussing a very horrible historical moment to the next sentence translating the Latin genus name of a tree, which was disorienting.
February 4, 2026
This book combined a history of slavery, botany and personal family stories. Unique and interesting premise. I found the story really pulled me in and gave me a different perspective from her family's stories. Never considered a plant or tree could carry such a triggering nature but it makes sense. I will say if anyone wanted to write a horror novel about what trees or land might remember I would totally read it. I thought that idea was very eerie. Will add this author to my following list and hope to see more by them.
December 1, 2025
Beronda L. Montgomery explores the connection between seven trees, and cotton shrubs, and black history. The author does a great job connecting botany, history, and memoir all while making it very readable. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer is a good comparison title, if you read and enjoyed it I definitely recommend picking up this one. I can see myself rereading this in the future and I will definitely be picking up a copy when it comes out.
January 4, 2026
I won an ARC in a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you to the publisher for the copy!!
Part memoir, part history, part botany, Dr. Montgomery does an excellent job of combining personal experiences with facts. Her writing is evocative and is as informational as it is emotional. I learned a lot from this book and will never look at trees the same way again. Well worth the read!
Part memoir, part history, part botany, Dr. Montgomery does an excellent job of combining personal experiences with facts. Her writing is evocative and is as informational as it is emotional. I learned a lot from this book and will never look at trees the same way again. Well worth the read!
January 30, 2026
ALC through Libro.fm educator
Wow wow wow. Montgomery beautifully challenged and expanded my understanding of and relationship to trees. I often think about the memories I have underneath trees, but I will now think also of the people who exhaled life into these trees. I will think of the pain of black Americans and their legacy. Exactly what I needed from a book about trees and culture.
Wow wow wow. Montgomery beautifully challenged and expanded my understanding of and relationship to trees. I often think about the memories I have underneath trees, but I will now think also of the people who exhaled life into these trees. I will think of the pain of black Americans and their legacy. Exactly what I needed from a book about trees and culture.
January 20, 2026
This book really made me pause. It explores the deep connection Black people have to land, trees, and botanical knowledge and how that connection is tied to both legacy and trauma. Nature has always been part of our survival and resilience, even when it was shaped by enslavement, displacement, and loss.
When Trees Testify reminds us that trees and land have witnessed our history. Reconnecting with our botanical roots isn’t just about plants…it’s about healing, reclaiming what was taken, and working through the trauma we’re still carrying. Thoughtful, reflective, a bit heavy…but honestly necessary.
When Trees Testify reminds us that trees and land have witnessed our history. Reconnecting with our botanical roots isn’t just about plants…it’s about healing, reclaiming what was taken, and working through the trauma we’re still carrying. Thoughtful, reflective, a bit heavy…but honestly necessary.
February 24, 2026
Absolutely stunning read about the legacy of trees and Black history in the US. It delves into the biology of trees, history of lynching, representations in culture, and more. A magnificent book—please read it!
February 3, 2026
this was a powerful read. part memoir, part biology, part history. i do feel like weaving of these parts was a bit disjointed at times but i still really enjoyed it!
February 5, 2026
everything i thought braiding sweet grass would be
January 22, 2026
This was a difficult one. I was intrigued by the title and wanted to learn more about the contributions of black and brown peoples to the study of plants.
First the good, I think once you got going into one of the specific stories the author told there was an intimacy to the experience and I definitely learned more about trees. I was expecting something more along the lines of the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
I feel the author wrote each chapter like a separate essay so she repeated herself frequently and I think it took away from the overall story telling. The book being non linear I think hurt the cohesion. Maybe if there was a journey we were on with the Author while highlighting each tree, whether that be in trying to process racism in her adult life or how the trees and plants where part of her life growing up. It just felt like it was too many ideals and styles at the same time, which made it hard to get to the true point of the chapters.
First the good, I think once you got going into one of the specific stories the author told there was an intimacy to the experience and I definitely learned more about trees. I was expecting something more along the lines of the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
I feel the author wrote each chapter like a separate essay so she repeated herself frequently and I think it took away from the overall story telling. The book being non linear I think hurt the cohesion. Maybe if there was a journey we were on with the Author while highlighting each tree, whether that be in trying to process racism in her adult life or how the trees and plants where part of her life growing up. It just felt like it was too many ideals and styles at the same time, which made it hard to get to the true point of the chapters.
January 24, 2026
The cover and title of this book me drew me in. It was more of a memoir than I was expecting, but still lots to learn within these pages. Thank you to goodreads and the author for the giveaway!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Sweet read, huge potential and enjoyable. It’s the kind of book that stays with me long after the final chapter. A few tweaks could really boost sales, visibility, and reviews. Dm through profile details,if you’d like detailed suggestions.
October 20, 2025
Review: When Trees Testify by Beronda L. Montgomery
Publisher: Henry Holt
Format: ARC courtesy of the publisher
Montgomery’s When Trees Testify is part memoir, part botanical history, and part cultural reclamation, an elegant and meaningful examination of the way America’s trees carry the untold stories of Black survival, ingenuity, and resistance.
The premise is deceptively simple: explore the ties between eight species of trees (and one shrub) and Black history. But the result is something expansive and resonant. Montgomery treats each tree as a witness, letting its presence in history shape the narrative. The pecan becomes a symbol of both agricultural mastery and economic theft. The poplar, in contrast, is a silent onlooker to horrific violence. The sycamore, willow, cotton shrub, each adds another layer, another thread in this rich tapestry of memory and loss.
What makes this book particularly effective is Montgomery’s ability to blend scientific insight with personal reflection. She brings academic rigor, yes, but also deep vulnerability, folding in childhood stories, ancestral echoes, and generational wisdom. There’s a rhythm to the writing that feels meditative and at times elegiac. Some chapters, like the one on poplars, are emotionally heavy, intentionally so. Others, like the one on apples or mulberries, offer space for sweetness and personal connection.
If the book falters, it’s only in moments where the narrative meanders slightly away from its botanical anchors. A few chapters spend more time on the sociopolitical context than the tree itself, but this seems more a reflection of how entwined human history is with landscape than a structural misstep. Still, there’s a sense that even more future-facing reflection, especially in relation to climate justice and modern Black communities, could have rounded the work more fully.
When Trees Testify is not a fast read, but it is a necessary one. It asks us to listen not just to people, but to the land. To remember that what grows beside us holds memory, too.
If you’re drawn to books like How the Word Is Passed or Braiding Sweetgrass, this belongs on your shelf.
Recommended for: Readers interested in nature writing, Black history, and cultural studies.
Not recommended for: Those expecting a pure botany or science-forward nonfiction read without narrative elements.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Publisher: Henry Holt
Format: ARC courtesy of the publisher
Montgomery’s When Trees Testify is part memoir, part botanical history, and part cultural reclamation, an elegant and meaningful examination of the way America’s trees carry the untold stories of Black survival, ingenuity, and resistance.
The premise is deceptively simple: explore the ties between eight species of trees (and one shrub) and Black history. But the result is something expansive and resonant. Montgomery treats each tree as a witness, letting its presence in history shape the narrative. The pecan becomes a symbol of both agricultural mastery and economic theft. The poplar, in contrast, is a silent onlooker to horrific violence. The sycamore, willow, cotton shrub, each adds another layer, another thread in this rich tapestry of memory and loss.
What makes this book particularly effective is Montgomery’s ability to blend scientific insight with personal reflection. She brings academic rigor, yes, but also deep vulnerability, folding in childhood stories, ancestral echoes, and generational wisdom. There’s a rhythm to the writing that feels meditative and at times elegiac. Some chapters, like the one on poplars, are emotionally heavy, intentionally so. Others, like the one on apples or mulberries, offer space for sweetness and personal connection.
If the book falters, it’s only in moments where the narrative meanders slightly away from its botanical anchors. A few chapters spend more time on the sociopolitical context than the tree itself, but this seems more a reflection of how entwined human history is with landscape than a structural misstep. Still, there’s a sense that even more future-facing reflection, especially in relation to climate justice and modern Black communities, could have rounded the work more fully.
When Trees Testify is not a fast read, but it is a necessary one. It asks us to listen not just to people, but to the land. To remember that what grows beside us holds memory, too.
If you’re drawn to books like How the Word Is Passed or Braiding Sweetgrass, this belongs on your shelf.
Recommended for: Readers interested in nature writing, Black history, and cultural studies.
Not recommended for: Those expecting a pure botany or science-forward nonfiction read without narrative elements.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review of advance copy
While I am grateful for the Audio ARC, I regret to say that I do not recommend this book if you are interested in botany, trees, or forestry. Contrary to the publisher’s blurb, this book has little to do with trees. It is a memoir and family history in which the bulk of Montgomery’s narrative has to do with stories of her life, her family’s life, or events that existed in the towns where her ancestors lived. Her history is the priority and the book is structured accordingly. Interspersed with her personal discourse is the occasional “oh, also, this type of tree was nearby and let’s talk about this type of tree” section. The book reads like an amateur family history written by someone who loves trees and wants to include them in the narrative.
I could have done without the repetition that speaks to poor editing. We know lynching is and continues to be deeply traumatic and triggering; the constant reminders of almost that exact statement suggest that once again, the book is not about trees. I have no idea why the constant "trees remind Black people of lynching" takes up so much of the narrative!? How is this a generative conversation? What does it add to a discourse around trees in 2026? Indeed, what does a surface level observation add to discourse around generational trauma? There are true crime podcasters who speak about lynching with more respect, depth, and nuance than this author.
For a simple example, please see the discussion of lynching at the end of chapter four which leads directly into the "I love jam" rhetoric of chapter five. A page turn is not a magical veil that separates what comes before; especially for audiobook listeners.
Montgomery makes frequent reference to an invitation to “talk to a tree” but this book is much more of a social history than an engagement with a very interesting and compelling practice of speaking to and with the natural world around us. It seems as though someone said “hey, you should write a book!” and she did. And then editors thought, “oh yeah, this sounds great!” And then someone had to compose a bizarre subtitle that should have been my first clue that this book would have no central theme. Reader, the theme is the author.
Make no mistake. This is a type of memoir. I wish it had been billed honestly. I would have skipped it and then not felt compelled to help other readers avoid a memoir in their search for an engagement with trees.
I could have done without the repetition that speaks to poor editing. We know lynching is and continues to be deeply traumatic and triggering; the constant reminders of almost that exact statement suggest that once again, the book is not about trees. I have no idea why the constant "trees remind Black people of lynching" takes up so much of the narrative!? How is this a generative conversation? What does it add to a discourse around trees in 2026? Indeed, what does a surface level observation add to discourse around generational trauma? There are true crime podcasters who speak about lynching with more respect, depth, and nuance than this author.
For a simple example, please see the discussion of lynching at the end of chapter four which leads directly into the "I love jam" rhetoric of chapter five. A page turn is not a magical veil that separates what comes before; especially for audiobook listeners.
Montgomery makes frequent reference to an invitation to “talk to a tree” but this book is much more of a social history than an engagement with a very interesting and compelling practice of speaking to and with the natural world around us. It seems as though someone said “hey, you should write a book!” and she did. And then editors thought, “oh yeah, this sounds great!” And then someone had to compose a bizarre subtitle that should have been my first clue that this book would have no central theme. Reader, the theme is the author.
Make no mistake. This is a type of memoir. I wish it had been billed honestly. I would have skipped it and then not felt compelled to help other readers avoid a memoir in their search for an engagement with trees.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is a beautiful and moving fusion of science, history, and memoir. As in her debut Lessons from Plants, Dr. Montgomery brilliantly weaves together botanical and human stories, making the science accessible and memorable. Running through the book is the theme of trees bearing witness to the atrocities of slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation, particularly in the chapters on lynching (myrtle and poplar trees), which, quite likely, contain carbon atoms exhaled by those who lived under them as well as those who were murdered on them. As the author travels the country to visit each of these tree species, she pays homage to ancestors and reflects on how both trees and humans pass on generational trauma.
In a short number of pages, this book teaches many lessons that were new to me, including the story of the enslaved African American man, known only by his first name, Antoine, who was the first to successfully graft pecan cuttings onto a different tree species, creating the United States' first commercially viable pecan varietal (here is the 1619 Project story by Tiya Miles). I had also not heard of the Elaine, Arkansas massacre of 1919 before this book.
The book is filled with personal stories, giving readers glimpses into experiences that shaped the author and times when people she thought she trusted revealed their prejudice or ignorance. It also helps readers to understand the origin of Black land trauma and the ways it can manifest; for example, how just the sight of a specific plant (e.g. cotton) can trigger traumatic memories, particularly in older generations of African Americans. Sprinkled throughout are many joyous memories from the author's childhood in Arkansas (pecan and apple trees) and her scientific career studying plants in the lab.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Co and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.
In a short number of pages, this book teaches many lessons that were new to me, including the story of the enslaved African American man, known only by his first name, Antoine, who was the first to successfully graft pecan cuttings onto a different tree species, creating the United States' first commercially viable pecan varietal (here is the 1619 Project story by Tiya Miles). I had also not heard of the Elaine, Arkansas massacre of 1919 before this book.
The book is filled with personal stories, giving readers glimpses into experiences that shaped the author and times when people she thought she trusted revealed their prejudice or ignorance. It also helps readers to understand the origin of Black land trauma and the ways it can manifest; for example, how just the sight of a specific plant (e.g. cotton) can trigger traumatic memories, particularly in older generations of African Americans. Sprinkled throughout are many joyous memories from the author's childhood in Arkansas (pecan and apple trees) and her scientific career studying plants in the lab.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Co and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.
February 19, 2026
Beronda L. Montgomery, the author of the book speaks about how her life and her ancestor’s life shaped in America, post the end of slavery. Thought this book does not completely talk about the struggles, it does refer to it. Again, the magic of this book is how gracefully the author has entangled the story of blacks in America to the trees, nature.
Beronda’s teacher once asked the students of the class to venture outside and talk to a tree, comeback to write on the experience. It sounded funny to her back then but was a turning point for her later future. She turned out to be a naturalist from a bright mathematics student.
I guess this gave me a different viewpoint of reading, history of nature and people, going hand in hand. A smooth read with a soft realization of the struggles faced by people as slaves, and even years after the so-called freedom. I felt it is a wonderful book.
The story gives a lot of insight into trees, how earlier generations used trees also to find direction, to hide things, like clothes and use as footwear. Also has a sorrow filled reminder that many of the black slaves were hanged to some of the specific trees, that carry the memories of the great benefits we get from trees and some of the way that we used plants in an unto memories, to hang people.
A little story of the author as a kid, on swallowing the apple seeds is fascinating, something most of the kids might have feared. I did learn that apple seeds potentially generate a pinch of cyanide which is harmful to humans but happened to learn that one should consume about 500 or more seeds to actually be fatal, thanks to the author for sharing this information. Admittingly, the way the author has detailed on the plants and how they grow was fascinating. So is the difficult life of the blacks in one of the biggest countries on the globe. It is still not the best place, as claimed, but things did change a lot after so much of suffering over ages. I do believe that there are many who still carry a pain from their past that they are yet to overcome.
Beronda’s teacher once asked the students of the class to venture outside and talk to a tree, comeback to write on the experience. It sounded funny to her back then but was a turning point for her later future. She turned out to be a naturalist from a bright mathematics student.
I guess this gave me a different viewpoint of reading, history of nature and people, going hand in hand. A smooth read with a soft realization of the struggles faced by people as slaves, and even years after the so-called freedom. I felt it is a wonderful book.
The story gives a lot of insight into trees, how earlier generations used trees also to find direction, to hide things, like clothes and use as footwear. Also has a sorrow filled reminder that many of the black slaves were hanged to some of the specific trees, that carry the memories of the great benefits we get from trees and some of the way that we used plants in an unto memories, to hang people.
A little story of the author as a kid, on swallowing the apple seeds is fascinating, something most of the kids might have feared. I did learn that apple seeds potentially generate a pinch of cyanide which is harmful to humans but happened to learn that one should consume about 500 or more seeds to actually be fatal, thanks to the author for sharing this information. Admittingly, the way the author has detailed on the plants and how they grow was fascinating. So is the difficult life of the blacks in one of the biggest countries on the globe. It is still not the best place, as claimed, but things did change a lot after so much of suffering over ages. I do believe that there are many who still carry a pain from their past that they are yet to overcome.
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February 3, 2026So I really wanted to like this more than I did. And if the whole thing was written the way the conclusion was, I might have! Where was that voice the whole time?? I honestly thought the book was going to be a lot more focused on telling specific stories using the trees that "witnessed" autrocities as the basis. Which it kind of was, but it wasn't consistent and was a lot more of a memoir than anything. In the end, I wondered who the intended audience was for this - because she spelled out so many things that I just didn't need the explanation. Most people picking up this book are going to know who Pocahontas and Sacagawea are. But spending time explaining their role and the injustice of it just kind of took away from the larger points she was making. There definitely were parts that were so important - the description of the way seeing cotton plants were triggering to her mother was so important. She did a beautiful job of humanizing how trauma looks differently in different people. But most of the book felt like it was written by a scholar - a little too sterile and cookie cutter. I get how the combination of her personal memories intertwined with the history and legacy of trees and black American history - but it felt like I was reading a first draft that didn't get enough editing. The conclusion though - that was where it was so compelling and raw. Her discussion of what it was like for her and her family to go through the act of remembering, witnessing and explaining their history was so wonderful. I would have rather seen that energy the whole time and made a few more assumptions about what the reader already knew. And omg, stop using "indeed". Take about 75% of them out of the book. Holy shit.
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