Things in Nature Merely Grow

2026年普立茲獎得主，李翊雲最斷腸的生命告白。
七年內痛失兩子，她不向命運低頭，透過園藝、哲學與音樂，在文字中為逝者尋找安身之所。這是一本超越悲傷、堅毅思考的生存宣言，獻給所有在黑暗中尋找光亮的靈魂。

「這件事沒有好的說法，」李翊雲在本書開頭寫道。
「沒有好的方式來陳述這些必須被承認的事實。我的丈夫和我曾育有兩個孩子，而我們失去了他們兩人：長子 Vincent 於 2017 年過世，年僅十六歲；次子 James 於 2024 年過世，年僅十九歲。兩人皆選擇自殺，且都在離家不遠處離世。」

這件事沒有好的說法——因為言語力有未逮。在這部非凡且充滿反抗精神、展現「激進接納」的作品中，李翊雲轉向思考並尋找或許能為她的兒子 James 留存位置的字句。李翊雲做了那些「有效的事」：除了寫作，還包括園藝、閱讀卡繆與維根斯坦、學習鋼琴，並在死亡身旁帶著思考生活。《Things in Nature Merely Grow》是李翊雲不屈精神的證明。

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR MEMOIR 2026

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2025

‘The best book I have read this year’ DAVID NICHOLLS

‘Masterly … I'm in awe’ SALMAN RUSHDIE

‘Beautiful’ DOUGLAS STUART

‘Extraordinary’ SARAH MOSS

‘A formidable testament to a mother’s love’ SARA COLLINS

‘There is no good way to say this,’ Yiyun Li writes at the beginning of this book.

‘There is no good way to state these facts, which must be acknowledged. My husband and I had two children and lost them both: Vincent in 2017, at sixteen, James in 2024, at nineteen. Both chose suicide, and both died not far from home.’

There is no good way to say this – because words fall short. In this remarkable, defiant work of radical acceptance, Li turns to thinking and searching for words that might hold a place for her son, James. Li does ‘the things that work’: including not just writing but gardening, reading Camus and Wittgenstein, learning the piano, and living thinkingly alongside death. Things in Nature Merely Grow is a testament to Li’s indomitable spirit.

Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-Fiction 2026

Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Awards 2025

Finalist for the National Book Award for Non-Fiction 2025

‘To state that this courageous book is a testament to love is an understatement. One is left altered by it’ Observer

‘Unlike any other book I've read … an unforgettable monument to endurance’ Sunday Times

‘A book that has not a single spare word in it … I loved it so much’ Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake

‘A meditation on living and radical acceptance’ Guardian

‘A memoir unlike others, strange and profound and fiercely determined not to look away’ New York Times

‘One of the most astounding memoirs I have ever read’ Pandora Sykes, author of How Do We Know We're Doing It Right?

‘I will return to it for the rest of my life’ Charlotte Wood, author of Stone Yard Devotional

‘A manifesto of living, not dying’ Sinéad Gleeson, The Week