Virginia Woolf's Garden by Caroline Zoob (published by Jacqui Small) is an exquisite account of the original creation and, now, the recreation, of the Modern Country Garden at Virginia's home, Monk's House, originally bought as a weather-boarded retreat in Sussex, England.
The author (and crafter extraordinaire) Caroline Zoob had the privilege of living in Monk's house, and hauling the garden back to its former glory. Virginia Woolf's Garden documents this journey of green-fingered magic.
The garden is described in meticulous detail with beautiful photos by Caroline Arber (like those here), leaving me certain that Virginia Woolf was most definitely a Modern Country Garden girl! Mixing roses and lavender with that hint of formality.
Virginia Woolf's Garden allows its readers to walk a fantasy stroll, arm in arm with Virginia herself, as she details the plants, the ideas, the petty arguments, and the whiling by of dreamy hours that all grew out of this idyll.
Caroline Zoob was a tenant of Monk's house through The National Trust. She shares what it was like to share her home for those special ten year period with so many visitors.
Virgina Woolf is an author that grows on me more and more, and what I love about this book is that it continuously links her work, her letters and her writing, with her garden; making it an intensely personal place...
....as every Modern Country Garden should be.
Don't you agree?
{Warning: Clicking on the links will lead you to book-buying temptation!}
I adore book buying temptation.
ReplyDeleteFondly,
Glenda