Things in Nature Merely Grow

In this profound memoir, Yiyun Li confronts the unimaginable grief of losing both of her teenage sons, Vincent and James, to suicide. Vincent died in 2017 at age 16, and James in 2024 at age 19. Li refrains from labeling her experience as "grieving," as she believes the term implies a process with an end point, which she finds incompatible with her ongoing reality.

The memoir is not a conventional narrative of mourning but a testament to Li's resilience and intellectual engagement with her pain. She intertwines personal memories, philosophical reflections, and literary references to explore the complexities of loss and the enduring presence of her sons in her life. Through this work, Li offers a poignant meditation on love, memory, and the limits of language in expressing profound grief.