Up the Garden Path

Book excerpt: An irresistible little book of quotations from many writers with robust views on a subject close to all our hearts, illustrated by a young artist with a delightfully unpredictable viewpoint all her own. From Jane Austen to Stevie Smith, from Daisy Ashford to Oscar Wilde, from Shakespeare to Vita Sackville-West, the brief quotations offer an affectionate and sometimes caustic view of gardens and gardening, houses and housekeeping, and the beauties and perils of the countryside beyond the garden wall. Laura Stoddart's illustrations are as pretty as they are witty, and the flowers and trees, the greenhouses, gardens and vistas and even the odd pieces of furniture that are scattered through the text make this a most enchanting gift book.