The Writer's Garden: How Gardens Inspired Our Best-Loved Authors

Bennett (The Wildlife Garden Month by Month) explores the bucolic settings of some of Britain's most beloved literary figures, tracking the rhythms of their writing in relation to their gardens. The status of these country homes, many of them stunning, affected the literary production of these writers, who often wove themes of their settings into their work. Jane Austen's writing, for example, stalled and floundered during the season after her father's death in 1805, when she and her mother and sister rambled from one home to the next dependent upon the good will of others. Finally, in 1809 Jane settled at the Chawton House in Hampshire, surrounded by gardens of native shrubbery, hollyhocks, sweet William and phlox (which she wrote about in letters), and her writing blossomed. She published her five best-known volumes during her residency there. Bennett's book is less about horticulture and more about the interior lives of these writers, whose gardens lent lucidity and stimulated creativity by virtue of their natural beauty. Two hundred color photos by Richard Hanson persuasively illustrate Bennett's argument. (Nov.)