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Life in the Garden  By  cover art

Life in the Garden

By: Penelope Lively
Narrated by: Heather Lloyd
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Publisher's summary

From the Booker Prize winner and national best-selling author, reflections on gardening, art, literature, and life

Penelope Lively takes up her key themes of time and memory and her lifelong passions for art, literature, and gardening in this philosophical and poetic memoir. From the courtyards of her childhood home in Cairo to a family cottage in Somerset, to her own gardens in Oxford and London, Lively conducts an expert tour, taking us from Eden to Sissinghurst and into her own backyard, traversing the lives of writers like Virginia Woolf and Philip Larkin while imparting her own sly and spare wisdom.

"Her body of work proves that certain themes never go out of fashion," writes the New York Times Book Review, as true of this beautiful volume as of the rest of the Lively canon. Now in her 84th year, Lively muses, "To garden is to elide past, present, and future; it is a defiance of time."

©2017 Penelope Lively (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"I have no idea what Penelope Lively sounds like, but as far as I'm concerned, narrator Helen Lloyd channels the 84-year-old esteemed author perfectly. Her mellow, educated tone is just right for the Booker Prize-winning Lively's newest book... These are audio essays for gardening enthusiasts to savor." (AudioFile)

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What listeners say about Life in the Garden

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Good Read if You Love Gardening and Litature!

Listen while gardening. It was interesting, but not something I would normally read. I purchased a few of the books that were mentioned in this book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable Read

Interesting read and enjoyable with many great references to gardening and even some of its history. I would have given it a solid five star review but for the unnecessary shots at Monty Don whom I happen to like and has written some great books too on gardening.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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An absolute joy to read

I highly suggest anyone with a passion for gardening read it, you will absolutely enjoy it!

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Soothing and Inspiring

A soothing and inspiring listen. 1 ding on Performance because Narrator repeatedly mispronounced My Ántonia by Willa Cather. Should be AN-tə-nee-ə.

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1 person found this helpful

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Very good

Very good enjoyed the garden piece of it. And also the story side of it.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Little more than jottings

Less informative than a Wikipedia article. Author appears to have decided on some topic headings and jotted down some notes. Very disappointing.

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1 person found this helpful