*Becoming Forest *opens

*Becoming Forest *opens

with Aishling--the young Irish woman at the heart of this story--as she visits

her grandmother in California following her grandfather's death. Aishling finds

her grandfather's journal and reads about a trip he made to India years ago to

visit the original Bodhi Tree, the place where the Buddha found enlightenment. At the end of the journal, she finds a letter addressed to

her from her grandfather asking for her help passing along his message of "deep

security" to her generation as they deal with the climate crisis and the

uncertain future ahead. Aishling goes to India to follow in her grandfather's

path to find a way of responding to his request. There she meets and falls in

love with a young Buddhist monk, who is also on a quest. As they walk together along

the roads of India, they gather unexpected and invaluable insights from each

other and come closer to the answers they both seek. Thirty years later, Aishling's daughter Tara is

visiting her in Ireland. Tara is grieving the death of her father and also the

destruction of the forests from drought and fire. She is also searching for a way

to heal the burnout she and her friends are experiencing while working to

combat climate change.* Becoming Forest *

weaves together threads of Native American and Celtic spirituality with

Buddhist understanding and connection to the natural world, creating a tapestry

which holds both the despair and awakening of Aishling