Customer Reviews

A perfect book - By: Mrs. Jean L. Le Maitre, 26 Aug 2008
This book is about far more than 'the story of a garden'. For me, it is that rare thing, a book that I did not want to put down & will certainly read again. It is writtenin such elegant prose with no superfluity almost to the point of self-effacement. The author's knowledge of so many diverse things is a constant delight to encounter. It is about gardening; about astronomy; about the roots of words & language; about the history of Morville & its environs; about the author's place amongst all this & so much more. I read as slowly as I could, not only to savour the text fully but so as to be able to go on sharing Dr.Swift's life & timesin rural Shropshire for as long as possible.

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Evocative writing - By: Mrs. J. Weekes, 20 Jun 2008
I'm something of an armchair gardener - all the pleasure & none of the work - & this book satisfied my liking to read about beautiful gardens. Its chapters are titled according to the monastic hours, echoing the house's monastic past. The author created a dreamlike garden out of a field beside her Shropshire house. The book is a description of the genesis of that garden with digressions into history, herbalism, religion & the uses & growing habits of the plants she seeks to cultivate. The writing is brilliantly clear & the garden comes to life as you read. There are line drawingsin the style of illustrations from a medieval book of hours, though no photographs, together with a plan of the layout of the garden This is a book to be enjoyed by anyone who has an interestin gardening, history or the spirit of human endeavour. To create such a magnificent garden is truly a labour of love