Book Title: Things in Nature Merely Grow
Author: Yiyun Li
Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd
Number of Pages: 192
ISBN: 0008753849
Date Published: Jun. 12, 2026
Book Review
In her honest memoir, “Things in Nature Merely Grow”, Yiyun Li writes about the heartbreaking loss of her two teenage sons, Vincent and James, to suicide. She does not try to hide her deep pain or distract herself with bad habits like drinking or reckless acts. Instead, she faces her sadness with clear thinking and shock, holding on to the idea that grief has no past or future—only a constant “now and now and now and now”. Just as the book’s title suggests, nature does not give easy answers or comfort; it simply keeps going.
The book stands out for Li’s calm writing and exact words. She does not pretend or make her story dramatic just to make readers feel comfortable. Instead, she shares her quiet daily routine of trying to live with loss, which includes gardening, learning to play the piano, and reading books by Camus and Wittgenstein. When kind people try to compare her grief to losing a pet or a parent, she thanks them for caring but gently reminds them that “there is no comparison” for her specific loss.
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In the end, “Things in Nature Merely Grow” asks readers to sit quietly with deep sadness rather than looking for quick comfort or happy endings. Li admits that writing cannot fix everything and that some losses never truly heal. Rather than offering easy lessons or simple closure, her story gives something much more helpful: true company and comfort in grief. It is a quiet, brave, and deeply human book about learning to keep going.
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