"In the Garden" is Here!
A memoir on what it costs to leave home--and what's possible on the other side.
I am proud to say that, as of yesterday, my book In the Garden: An Almanac for Uprooting is officially launched! You can find the ebook wherever ebooks are sold, and you can find the paperback version here.
For those of you who don’t know me–Hi! I’m Amber Stewart! I’m the founder and poetry editor for Unbordered Magazine, a magazine for Americans who have left the United States and are living abroad. I use the language “left,” because while there will always be a small group of Americans that choose to live outside the U.S., what we’re seeing right now is a cultural shift in what it means to be an American abroad. More and more Americans are leaving, not just because they want to have an adventure, but because their livelihoods, their safety, and their futures depend on it. For many Americans living abroad, they now have more in common with other immigrants worldwide than the romantic expat that lives in the hearts of artists and travelers.
This magazine is dedicated to exploring these changing definitions by sharing the stories, the art, and the poetry of American emigrants. The stories are different, but a lot of the sentiment is the same. Feeling fed-up. Feeling afraid. Feeling defeated or broken by a system that centers profits over people.
I started this magazine because I wanted our stories to be remembered. And I wrote my book because I wanted to show people what it looked like to be in the thick of it. I wanted to tell people what it costs when your life becomes the talking point used to divide the country. I wanted to show what it costs to uproot your life and plant it somewhere else. And I’m not just talking about money.
And then, ultimately, I wanted this book to show that it is possible to leave. That, despite the hardship and the pain, there is something worth reaching for on the other side. I don’t mean to say I’ve got it all figured out–I definitely don’t! But I have begun to glimpse what is possible when you take your fate in your own hands.
I hope you’ll consider giving In the Garden a read. It’s a document and a testament to hard decisions and not backing down, to choosing the path that lets you be the fullest, most authentic person you can be. To choosing love.
Early readers have been very generous with their reflections. Here’s what just a few had to say:
“This is writing that earns its beauty honestly. Like the best spiritual autobiography, it refuses the comfort of resolution. Instead, it offers something rarer: the record of a self, a life, a country, being unmade and then slowly, tenderly, made anew.” — Adrian Shirk, author of Heaven is a Place on Earth
“Beautifully captures the heartbreak when home is no longer home. Amber reminds us how to heal as she opens up to the gentle promise of a new culture, learning to live life tranquilo.” - Antonia Peplinski, @Wisconsinitos
“Overall, I couldn’t stop reading and didn’t want to, even though the anxiety and stress were bleeding through. What a brave, soul-baring piece of work that is so personal and so universal too. The writing was poetic and informative in an accessible and relatable way. It was so interesting to read about a very different immigration experience to the ones we commonly see.” - NetGalley Reviewer Georgia T.
The book is incredibly touching and really well written…It’s about grieving your homeland and the desire to make a new country your home, to build a life you can feel safe and happy in. On having to change and grieve our dreams for the future when our bodies and circumstances won’t allow for said dreams. -NetGalley Reviewer, E.R.
This book has been a labor of love, and I am beyond excited to share it with you! If you do decide to read it, please feel free to reach out and let me know your thoughts, or consider leaving a review on Goodreads or Amazon.
Thanks for being here with me through this journey–we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled content next week.
Amber Stewart is a writer, editor, and founder of Unbordered Magazine, a literary publication documenting the stories of Americans living outside the United States. She lives in Montevideo, Uruguay with her wife, Jamie, and their dog, Libby. In the Garden: An Almanac for Uprooting is her debut book.