Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees

by Lindsay Branham

Emmy‑nominated filmmaker and University of Cambridge Environmental Psychologist Lindsay Branham invites readers into an embodied, reciprocal relationship with trees to heal our severed connections to ourselves and the earth, returning home to the living world.

In the midst of the California wildfire season, Lindsay Branham was besieged by unexplainable health symptoms. Her descent into chronic illness challenged her notion of Western frameworks of “healing,” compounded alongside rapid ecological loss. Through a catalytic love affair with a family of trees in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, an odyssey of healing unfolds—a poetic evocation to love the Earth, and to be loved back. What if human and planetary health is connected? What if healing is an embodied ecological process, not an outcome? What if trees are our guides to connection?

Through the intertwining rings of science and spirit, this is the story of how Lindsay was summoned by trees, brought together to share their enduring wisdom—we each belong to this world, and it’s up to us to protect the whole of it. Heartwood conjures an invitation to go on a journey with trees; from strangers to kin because, as Lindsay lays out in detail, everything belongs, and trees in all their sentinel, entangled, alchemical generosity embody that kinship, defy domination and can help us both repair a lost relationship with the Earth and learn to embody mutuality, collectivity and care for the forest. Combining scientific research from her PhD studies at Cambridge on interoceptive awareness, our body’s “eighth sense,” which she suggests is the sensuous language of the Earth, readers will be walked through a step‑by‑step wonder-filled process of creating an intimate and reciprocal relationship with the more than human world, while learning why remembering our birthright of belonging to nature is a central antidote to mitigating climate collapse.

This tender, lyrical work explores concepts such as eco‑grief, reciprocity as life force, the pace of place, erotic ecology, attachment healing with nature, composting suffering, entangled futures, loving inter-species kinship and death doulaship. Heartwood speaks directly to what is the missing piece at the heart of the unfolding environmental mega-crisis: the fact that our dissatisfaction, discontent and despair are core symptoms of being separated from nature and shares exactly how to rediscover the medicine that is right under our feet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

336 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2026

Reviews

[RedReviews4You Susan-Dara · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review of Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees by Lindsay Branham
I’ve been sitting with this book for a while — slowly reading, thinking, reflecting, and listening. Listening to the trees around me, to myself, and to Lindsay Branham’s voice. There is real power in these pages, but it’s not the kind you read and walk away from. Though written in clear, grounded nonfiction prose, this book carries the introspective weight of poetry and the contemplative depth of philosophy.

What stands out most is how Heartwood feels like attending a beautifully curated conference. Each chapter reads like a workshop — not just explaining eco‑psychology, but helping me understand it. That distinction matters. This isn’t simply a book that defines environmental psychology; it’s a book that invites you to apply it, to see its threads woven through your daily life. Branham draws from a wide range of philosophies and worldviews, showing how Western, Eastern, and Indigenous traditions often share meaning, and how their divergences reflect culturally distinct ways of experiencing the same truths. The breadth of her study and lived experience is evident, and each chapter builds with intention.

I found myself journaling after nearly every chapter — capturing quotes I didn’t want to lose, noting connections I discovered, sketching ideas for outdoor meditations, and writing through the reflective questions that turned reading into active engagement. This is a book that opens you, gently but insistently.

If you’ve ever watched footage of a forest fire and felt not only empathy for the people and animals in danger, but also a deep, soul‑level grief for something vast and irreplaceable being lost… or if you’ve ever cheered for a fragile spring seedling pushing out its first green leaves and wondered why it moved you so much… this book will help you understand the roots of that connection. Heartwood lays out a wide, intricate philosophical quilt, stitching together the author’s scholarship, lived experience, and reverence for the natural world. This is not a beach read or an airport self‑help paperback. It is a book that asks you to slow down, to listen, and to consider how the author herself inhabits her work.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the print ARC; holding these pages in my hands felt fitting for a book so rooted in connection.

[Karen Axnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars Rounded up to 5

It is a challenge to capture my experience of this book in words. I have had an affinity for trees since I was a child and as an adult have had many joyful and painful encounters with trees. (The painful ones have related to the brutal trimming/cutting of these beautiful beings as well as viewing the charred remains after a wildfire.) This book resonates deeply in its invitation to deepen our relationships with our non-human kin.

The author shares her subjective experiences with a variety of species in diverse settings utilizing evocative and uplifting prose. She then ties these back to the concept of kinship and our connection/disconnection with Earth as a living entity. I gained an expanding perspective of nature and the effects of human greed and exploitation. The seeds of the current climate crisis are illuminated, rooted in hundreds of years of history.

While the author’s insights and theories are well-documented with research and quotes from a variety of disciplines, I found the shift from heartfelt musings to academic rigor jarring at times. It seems some of the book has been abstracted from the author’s Ph.D. thesis, especially in the introductory chapters.

Overall, this is an amazing and inspiring book to foster our reconnection with nature as well as a cautionary tale about the lethal effects of our disconnection from the oneness of Life. I plan to read it again to savor the test and to go deeper into the recommended practices.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway.

As someone that often finds a tree to greet on my walks, I really wanted to enjoy this book but I've made it 50% and I've really struggled.
I was thrown off in the first chapter when she was discussing her MRI and was worried about the radiation. If the author had done their research (which I would think anyone writing a book and with a PhD would) they would know that MRIs do not use radiation - they are magnets.
Continuing on, the book felt like it needed some serious editing. It seems haphazard in organization.
I don't really know who this book is for - spiritual environmentalists may connect with parts but people you are trying to teach connection to nature are more likely to reject the extremes like asking trees for consent, "erotic ecology", laying on top of branches to mourn, fearing trees' rejection if she leaves. The “woo woo” is written in a way that insists on skepticism because of its absurd self-assurance.
There have been a few things that I've enjoyed learning about such as kincentricity and trees sharing sugar. I may pick up this book to scan a chapter every now and then to find more tidbits but I need to space it out with some other books on my tbr.

[Andy Krahling · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded down to 2 stars.

DNF @ 15%. I tried, I honestly did, but I could not make the giant leaps of faith and logic asked by the author.

What I understood from what I read: Capitalism and colonialism bad; anything Indigenous good.

I'm probably not the target audience here, but I've read enough academic epistles to feel comfortable in this environment.

For the author, I'm glad her relationship with trees has been such a positive addition to her life, and I do understand how she feels Western society in many respects has failed the environment. As for the interconnectedness of all living things: my jury is still out.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to most of this audiobook while driving the Richardson Highway which parallels part of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline. Ah, the irony! This book is 33% trees, 33% eco-advocacy, and 33% poetry. Each chapter is dense but contains some of each.

It made me want to hug a tree which I suspect is exactly what Lindsay Branham, the author, intended.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Grand Central Publishing for the eARC and to Hachette Audio for the ALC! This is my honest review.

[Bekd]

In theory I am the perfect target audience for this book, given the impression that it explores the topic of trees and connections with spirituality and science in mind. I found it leaning heavily on the spiritual side, and could not overlook some claims and turns of phrases that stretched the book a little too thin.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the early copy!

not really my cup of tea, as it were, but i love that she quoted The Overstory by Richard Powers, one of my absolute favorite love letters to trees - parts of Heartwood had similar vibes. i love my backyard pin oak and i hope it lives forever!