Life in the Garden: A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week 2017 Paperback – June 7, 2018

Ah she covers the whole gamit. Everything about gardening and how it makes her feel. I so identified with her feelings. She put me there even while sitting in a library surrounded in January Wisconsin white, I could go with her to the gardens she described, each with their own personality and attitude. I loved this book!

This book is a slow meander through gardening lore including histories of British gardens and a sort of assessment and literary analysis of gardens in British novels. It represents the high and traditional form of the British garden.

Bought this book after reading a bit about it from the Editor of Better Homes & Gardens. Looking forward to reading it over the winter break to plan my garden more for Spring.

An ideal read for anyone who is - or would like to start- appreciating the process of gardening.

Beautiful book jacket, so this made for a very special gift! My friend reported back that it was a lovely book.

Anyone who likes gardening or appreciates it will enjoy the wonderful details, humor, and fine writing in this book. Thanks to Penelope for all your efforts.

Fans of Penelope Lively’s novels and gardeners are those readers most likely to enjoy her book titled, Life in the Garden. Her reflections about gardening become insights about community, connections to nature, and reflections about different gardens throughout her long life. I think we never have too much beauty in our lives, and the smallest garden can become a place where beauty is found. Lively reflects on her well-spent life using the gardens as our guide in telling that story.Rating: Four-star (I like it)

Lively is always a winner and this book, even though non-fiction, is still up to her fine standards

Merveilleux livre

Las hojas interiores no son de la mejor calidad

Penelope Lively, an 84-year old British writer best known for her novels, made waves last year when she tackled, of all things, gardens and their under-examined place in human history. It reads like an audio book -- you almost hear the author saying, "Oh, and THIS is why paintings, literature, politics and gardens all underwent a makeover just in time for Jane Austen to make wicked fun of the whole mishmash, then Tom Stoppard in a hit play 100 years later." A lovely Lively mind is at work here, starting with Eden and weaving an enchanting 160-p. backgrounder on, well, nearly everything that led to why and how we garden today. Warning: It's a great gift for someone you know. But don't open it anywhere, or you may just park it on the bedside table instead.

Muy buen estado, como nuevo

A critique of not only gardens, but literature, poetry and stories. A history of gardening and the need for it and the benefit of it for mankind.