--- description: Find out why "Birnam Wood" by Eleanor Catton is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Birnam Wood' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39c3df5ced3d534b/698a41fcb21a9c2278507c1e/BirnamWood.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  In Eleanor Catton’s third novel, Mira Bunting leads a group of guerilla gardeners who operate under the name Birnam Wood. The ragtag collective pushes back against climate change and capitalism by planting gardens, both legally and illegally, across New Zealand. When American billionaire Robert Lemoine offers to bankroll the group, Mira accepts the money without hesitation. But the tech mogul turns out to be more sinister than expected, and his funding becomes a major point of contention among the do-gooders. Told through rotating points of view, _Birnam Wood_ is a thrilling surveillance satire that explores idealism and ideology, morality and motive—and questions what it means to be truly good in the era of late-stage capitalism. —_Meg Zukin_ **Buy Now**: _Birnam Wood_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374110338 "undefined") | [Amazon ](https://amzn.to/49ByHEm "undefined") --- **Looking for more book recommendations? Sign up for** [**_Worth Your Time_**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=worth-your-time "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332220/birnam-wood/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332220/birnam-wood/"},"headline":"Birnam Wood","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:06.468Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332220/birnam-wood/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39c3df5ced3d534b/698a41fcb21a9c2278507c1e/BirnamWood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39c3df5ced3d534b/698a41fcb21a9c2278507c1e/BirnamWood.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332220/birnam-wood/","name":"Birnam Wood"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332220/birnam-wood/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332220/birnam-wood/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```