A Song for the Earth by Shannon Jade is a beautiful, lyrical story that follows a young woman named January as she embarks on a quest to rediscover the Earth on which she lives. The story begins in the city, where January lives and is beginning to feel the call of the Earth to come and explore, to learn its depths, its destruction.
So she leaves, traveling to five distinct locations (the rainforest, the desert, the ocean, the arctic, and the savannah) before heading home to the city. In these five locations, January meets the people who call each place their home and she witnesses first hand both the slow and fast decay of each area in its own, unique way.
This novel in prose was so incredibly moving to read. It filled me with equal parts hope and dread, all while filling my mind with imagery of places I have never been or seen. The author is really talented in painting a vivid picture with the fewest possible words. It's quite impressive. So many passages struck me, plucking chords deep within my soul, and resonated until my body seemed to hum. I wish I could share them all, but there are too many to choose from.
When I first began reading, Jade's story reminded me of Richard Power's The Overstory (one of my 5-star reads from 2024, and probably one of the best books I have ever read), set to a steady rhythm that only poetry seems to possess.
