The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth Rush

The Quickening: Antarctica, Motherhood, and Cultivating Hope in a Warming World by Elizabeth Rush is a a deeply reflective and poetic account of her journey to Antarctica as part of a research expedition studying the rapidly melting Thwaites Glacier. The book blends personal memoir, scientific exploration, and philosophical meditation on climate change, creation, and community, offering a profound look at one of the most remote and fragile places on Earth.

Rush, an acclaimed writer known for her work on environmental issues, joins a team of scientists on a research vessel bound for Thwaites, one of the most vulnerable glaciers in Antarctica and a key factor in rising sea levels. As she documents their voyage, she immerses readers in the extreme beauty and isolation of the Antarctic landscape, while also examining the broader implications of climate change and humanity’s role in shaping the planet’s future.

At the heart of The Quickening is Rush’s personal reckoning with creation—not just in the natural world but also within her own life, as she contemplates the possibility of motherhood and the ethics of bringing a child into a world facing climate catastrophe. Her reflections on birth, renewal, and environmental collapse weave together with the scientific work unfolding around her, creating a narrative that is both intimate and expansive.

Rush also explores the dynamics of the expedition team—scientists, crew members, and fellow observers—highlighting the collaborative nature of scientific discovery and the deep bonds that form in such an isolated and high-stakes environment. She gives voice to the emotional and psychological weight of studying a disappearing landscape, where knowledge is both urgent and bittersweet.

Throughout the book, Rush’s lyrical prose captures the tension between despair and hope, between loss and the potential for transformation. She does not offer easy answers but instead invites readers to sit with the complexities of a rapidly changing world, reflecting on the interconnectedness of all life. This book is a meditation on the fragility of both ice and human existence, a contemplation of what it means to witness profound change, and an exploration of the ways we might still foster resilience and renewal. It is both a climate narrative and a deeply personal story, urging readers to consider their own place in the unfolding drama of our planet’s future.

Reading The Quickening was timely and relevant for many of us in the group. One member has sailed to Antarctica for science research before. Another member was a journalist. And another member was even pregnant at the time of the discussion. Most of the rest of us were scientists invested in climate change and the health of the planet.

So, as a group, we discussed Rush's relationship with the crew members: was she, as a journalist, able to relate to the scientists? Was her presence welcomed or a hindrance? The “feminizing of Antarctica” was an underlying theme with adjectives like “virgin, impenetrable, etc" often being used to characterize the vast continent. Why is this the case?

Rush's interviews were interwoven with lyrical prose and scientific information, and we discussed how effective this was. Many of us found this juxtaposition choppy and disjointed, making it difficult to understand or know any of the crew members well.

Of course, we talked about the ties between glaciers and childbirth and whether she executed this connection strongly in the book. The conclusion: it could have been stronger. The final and central question to the book was: how do people who care about the climate also reckon with wanting to have children?

Group mean rating: 6.9/10