Summary

Writers have been inventing and imagining gardens for centuries. They are symbols of paradise and desire; scenes for romance and debauchery; and places for adventure and escape.

This book celebrates the most enchanting gardens from literature and re-imagines them with beautiful artworks. Find comfort in the gardens of your childhood (The Secret Garden, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland); reacquaint yourself with classics in a new light (Rebecca, The Great Gatsby); and discover the myriad ways writers use gardens to express themselves ('The Garden of Forking Paths', Elizabeth and her German Garden).

Sandra Lawrence and Lucille Clerc present 30 of the most cherished and evocative gardens from literature in this beautiful gift for garden and book lovers.

Author Biography

Sandra Lawrence is an author and journalist with over 20 years’ experience in the field. She has written about gardens for, among others, the Telegraph, Times, English Garden, LandScape, Garden News, Modern Gardens, Hortus and British Heritage. Her seventeen books include The Witch’s Garden (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/ Welbeck, 2019), The Magic of Mushrooms (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew/Welbeck, 2022), and Anthology of Amazing Women (20-Watt, 2018). She is also the author of Miss Willmott’s Ghosts (Blink, 2022).

Introduction

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas

Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

The Garden of Forking Paths, Jorge Luis Borges

Fictional Plants

Tom’s Midnight Garden, Philippa Pearce

Elizabeth and her German Garden, Elizabeth von Armin

The Hanging Garden, Patrick White

The Chronicles of Narnia, C S Lewis

The Pillow Book, Sei Shonagon

Plants and Gardens in Science Fiction

Larry’s Party, Carol Shields

Rappaccini’s Daughter, Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twang Eng

Halloween Party, Agatha Christie

The Garden Party, Katherine Mansfield

Plants in literature

The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter

The Ramanyana, Anonymous

Kew Gardens, Virginia Woolf

My Mother’s House and Sido, Colette

The Garden of the Fitz Contonis, Georgio Bassani

Fairy Tale Plants and Gardens

Mort, Terry Pratchett

My Garden, Jamaica Kinkaid

The Door in the Wall, H G Wells

The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros

Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance, MR James

The World Tree

The Enchanted Garden, Italo Calvino

No Tomorrow, Vivant Denon

The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler

The Importance of Being Ernest, Oscar Wilde

The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

Reading list

Visitor info

Index

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

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