The Queer Woman Who Defended the Earth

When humanity is pushing the Earth toward ruin, decisive voices are needed to stand up for it. Rachel Carson was one of those voices. The queer biologist kickstarted the environmental movement in the United States during the 1960s with her publications and, in doing so, sparked a radical rethink in how we relate to nature and to chemistry. Theresia Graw now explores the story behind Carson’s work in the novel “In Us the Ocean” – and writes a book that begs to be read and adapted for the screen.

Her life path was anything but straightforward

The entry point of the narrative is Woods Hole, the place where Carson’s scientific career was meant to begin. Yet her life path is anything but straightforward. Responsibility for her family repeatedly forces her to put career opportunities on hold. Financially and emotionally, she not only cares for her mother and her sister; she also takes care of her nieces and their son as her life unfolds.

Theresia Graw traces in her novel the milestones that ultimately shaped Rachel Carson into a writer and into an icon of the environmental movement. The focus, however, is less on scientific discoveries than on the obstacles Carson faced as a woman in the male-dominated worlds of research and publishing in the 1940s and 1950s.

The power of queer companionship

The selection of the portrayed intimate relationships reflects why Rachel Carson today stands for queer environmental activism. Notably, Graw’s talent lies in presenting romance and sexuality first as an almost incidental social expectation, something not necessarily required to be fulfilled.

Carson’s connection to Mary Scott, a former professor and colleague, runs like a red thread through the first half of the life phases depicted. Central is the intimate relationship that they nurtured through their scientific exchanges. Only later and unexpectedly do they admit their romantic feelings for each other. A moment of lesbian self-recognition that Graw portrays with great sensitivity.

The influence of Dorothy Freeman on the book

Much later, Carson meets Dorothy Freeman. Out of Freeman’s curious interest in Carson grows a deep emotional bond, which is reflected in an extensive correspondence that today stands as a significant testament to lesbian love. At the time, the secret love for Dorothy mattered not only privately for Carson but also provided support in a period when she faced public scrutiny.

Through these deep insights into Carson’s life and inner world, the novel shows how much perseverance it took to craft her most influential book, “Silent Spring,” and to publish it in 1962. In this final stretch of her life, the tension tightens: encounters and relationships Carson had built over the years contribute to the book’s creation in various ways. Especially the emotional closeness to Dorothy Freeman ultimately enables Carson to stay steadfast in her convictions.

A novel that wants to be read – and adapted for film

“In Us the Ocean” is a novel that wants to be read and to be translated to the screen. Skillfully, Graw interweaves Carson’s personal development with the major ecological questions of her era. In doing so, she crafts a literary portrait that both inspires and warns. It shows how hard it is to give urgent topics a hearing, and how much strength is required to push against entrenched structures and powerful interests at the same time.

The novel, which was published at the end of July by List Verlag, targets anyone who is not only interested in environmental issues but also drawn to biographies of extraordinary women and queer people. Theresia Graw has written with “In Us the Ocean” not merely a homage to Rachel Carson but a work that demonstrates how seemingly opposing forces—science and public life, as well as person and environment—can be brought together.