The Unfurling Frond

Time and space weave the past and present into the story like an unfurling frond holding layers of memories in a single moment. This memoir explores becoming and belonging on the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific and in the mystical and spiritual realms. Rebecca Beardsall's transnational narrative between the United States and Aotearoa, New Zealand, The Unfurling Frond, investigates land and place as physical space, home, and moments in time. The collection wrestles with the concept of personal transformation through time with the added complexity of settler colonization. As she travels between her two selves/two moments in time, her histories/two nations' histories, Beardsall senses and feels where her physical body aligns with the spiritual, telling her that she is home, that she belongs. Longlisted for the C & R Press - Nonfiction Award Longlisted for the Santa Fe Writers Project - Literary Awards Program