The Snag

A Mother, A Forest, and Wild Grief

By: Tessa McWatt

Narrated by: Tessa McWatt

FINALIST for the 2025 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize

In her memoir The Snag, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Shame on Me, Tessa McWatt, takes on personal and collective grief, and the solace and inspiration to be found in connecting with nature—and each other.

Every day, we hear about and experience griefs, large and small, in our families, friendships, communities, and worldwide. The grief of a loved one passing. The grief of a way of life ceasing to exist. The grief of global pandemic, war, climate collapse.

As her mother’s dementia advances and she can no longer live independently, Tessa McWatt confronts personal and political losses, and finds herself wandering in a forest asking, how do we grieve? And what can we learn from nature and those whose communities are rooted in nature about not only how to grieve but also how to live?

From the newest seedling to the oldest snag in the forest, there is meaning to be found in every stage of a tree’s life, all of which contribute to a thriving forest community. In this forest thinking, Tessa begins to find answers to her questions about how to live (for each other), how to grieve (radically), and how to die (with love and connection).

The Snag is an essential book about living and dancing and singing and praying, even in the face of unimaginable sadness, and in this way, growing together and supporting one another, like the trees in the forest.

Critic reviews

"In The Snag, Tessa McWatt dwells in powerful contradictions as she brings us along through her complex journeys of grief and joy across continents, offering multilayered and much-needed insight into connection and belonging beyond ourselves. Making the global intimate and the familial expansive, this book is a poignant lament for what we are losing and a call to care for what we have not yet lost." —Kate Neville, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Toronto and author of Going to Seed

“A beautiful meditation on grief, the power of nature, and how communities recover from loss.” —Irenosen Okojie, author of Curandera

“Wise, bold, and deeply affecting.” —Stephanie Bishop, award-winning author of The Anniversary

“The Snag is a radical ecosystem of a book.” —Marchelle Farrell, therapist, gardener and author of the award-winning memoir Uprooting

“Tessa McWatt is simply one of the best writers available to us…. Her beautiful, unflinching prose is a truth we need in these times.” —Leone Ross, award-winning author of This One Sky Day

“The Snag is a raw and deeply personal exploration of trauma, grief, and environmental destruction…. A profound must-read text on the yearning for radical change.” —Victoria Pratt, Creative Director, Invisible Flock and Land Body Ecologies