May Book Club: Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams

Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams is a memoir that intertwines the author’s personal tragedy—her mother’s death from cancer—with the environmental crisis of the Great Salt Lake flooding the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

Published in 1992, the book uses the natural world as a metaphor for loss, change, and survival, linking the cancer deaths in her family to the radioactive fallout from U.S. nuclear testing in Nevada, a connection the government initially denied. It’s a powerful work about grief, family, and the relationship between human and natural history.

Key themes and elements:
Dual narratives: The book alternates between the rising waters of the Great Salt Lake and the author’s family’s experience with cancer, particularly her mother’s.

Environmentalism: It serves as a critique of government actions, specifically the nuclear testing that Williams suggests caused cancer in her family and community.

Nature as metaphor: The flooding of the bird refuge and the displacement of wildlife mirror the personal and familial losses the author experiences.

Personal and political: It’s a deeply personal story of grief and love, but also a political statement about the consequences of government policy on ordinary people and the environment.

Genre: It’s considered a work of creative nonfiction, blending memoir, natural history, and social commentary.