A memoir of the author's life in gardens, and an exploration of gardens in literature.
Penelope Lively was born in Cairo, Egypt and spent her childhood there. She came to England at the age of twelve, in 1945, and went to boarding school in Sussex. She went on to read Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford. In 1957 she married Jack Lively (who died in 1998). They had two children, Josephine and Adam. Jack Lively's academic career took the family from Swansea to Sussex and Oxford, and eventually to Warwick University, where he was Professor of Politics. Penelope Lively now has six grandchildren and lives in London.
Rich and unusual, this is a book to treasure. Few recent gardening
books come anywhere close to its style, intelligence and depth.
Moves between Lively's own horticultural life and a broad history
of gardening
*Alex Preston, Observer*
Exquisite and original
*Daily Telegraph*
A gentle, scholarly progress through the lives and works of
Penelope Lively's favoured authors - from Jane Austen to Beatrix
Potter, Philip Larkin to Tom Stoppard
*The Times*
Enchanting. Reading this book is like walking with a wise, humorous
guide through a series of garden rooms . . . and finding that
vistas suddenly open out, on to history, fashion, politics,
reflections on time and the taming of nature
*Tablet*
Lively finds memories of her own gardens scrambling like roses
through insights into the history of gardening and the artists -
including Woolf, Monet and PG Wodehouse - who have been inspired by
their gardens
*Daily Mail*
Delightful
*Lady*
Elegant, entertaining and inspirational
*Woman & Home*
The perfect book for dedicated garden lovers
*S Magazine*
A blossoming triumph
*Waterstones Newsletter*
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