Virginia Woolf's Garden: The Story of the Garden at Monk's House

by Caroline Zoob, Caroline Arber (Photographer), Cecil Woolf (Foreword by)

Overview

This chronological account takes you through the key events in the lives of Virginia and Leonard Woolf through a history of their home, Monk’s House in Sussex, where Virginia wrote most of her major novels.  The story of this magical garden includes selected quotations from the writings of the Woolfs which reveal how important a role the garden played in their lives, as a source of both pleasure and inspiration. Bought by them in 1919 as a country retreat, Monk's House was somewhere they came to read, write and work in the garden.  Virginia wrote first in a converted tool shed, and later in her purpose-built wooden writing lodge tucked into a corner of the orchard. Enriched with rare archive images and embroidered garden plans, the book takes the reader on a journey through the various garden ‘rooms’, (including the Italian Garden, the Fishpond Garden, the Millstone Terrace and the Walled Garden), each presented in the context of the lives of the Woolfs, with fascinating glimpses into their daily routines at Rodmell. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909342132
Publisher:	Jacqui Small
Publication date:	11/01/2013
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

CAROLINE ZOOB is  an embroiderer, designer of china and textiles, and someone who set a trend for making beautiful things using antique textiles. She undertakes design commissions for several large companies and runs a website  www.caroline-zoob.co.uk selling her embroidery and a range of homewares. Her book Childhood Treasures was published in 2003. Caroline Zoob lives in East Sussex.

CAROLINE ARBER

Editorial Reviews

"a thoughtful, intelligent account of restoring the garden at Rodmell as the tenant of the National Trust."

'this book about a gifted amateur's garden has immense charm'

'her embroidered plans of the gardens add a delightful extra dimension to the book.'

'takes the reader on a visually sumptuous tour of the property's famous grounds, uncovering its enchanting patchwork of 'rooms' and offering a fascinating glimpse into the Woolfs' daily lives.'

'her embroidered plans of the gardens add a delightful extra dimension to the book.'

"an indispensable treasure for any Woolf fan, Anglophile, or gardener"

'an unusual and affecting book'

'a glorious amalgam of biography and gardening'

"a beautifully presented book ... visual pleasure ... uses [language] engagingly. Gardeners and Woolf readers will much enjoy her book"

'Zoob's admirably passionate approach to the house and garden as an artistic whole has produced an extraordinary book, full of quiet images that exactly capture the beauty of the place...Buy it!'

'Zoob's book is enchanting and full of excellent excerpts from the Woolfs' letters and diaries'

'touching account'

"The book has great charm and terrific photographs, is packed with horticultural information, and gives a delightful account of the domestic life of the Woolfs."

"Rich with Caroline Arber's photography (and atmospheric sepia snaps of the Woolfs) the book documents the garden's developments from the Woolfs' time, through the Second World War, Virginia's death and Caroline's own decade-long tenancy.  It remains a place of beauty and solace."

'A portrait of their life ... a delightfully layered garden history.'

'Lovely book celebrates the Woolfs' garden - the first (large picture book) about Monk's House'

'this book about a gifted amateur's garden has immense charm'

"a thoughtful, intelligent account of restoring the garden at Rodmell as the tenant of the National Trust."

From the Publisher

01/01/2014
In 1919, Leonard and Virginia Woolf bought Monk's House, an 18th-century Sussex cottage on three-quarters of an acre of land. It became their beloved country retreat. Zoob and her husband were the National Trust tenants there for the last ten or so years, charged with, among other things, maintaining the gardens, whose "fertility & wildness," as described by Virginia, are palpable today in Arber's luscious photographs of layered retreats and pathways. After providing background on the Woolfs, Zoob intertwines descriptions of their years at Monk's House (Leonard was there for 28 years after Virginia's suicide in 1941) while walking readers from one garden "room" to another (Leonard, the active gardener, devised these), among them the fishpond garden, Italian garden, walled garden, orchard, and special plantings outside of Virginia's bedroom. Watercolor planting diagrams indicate the species now flourishing (there are no gardening instructions). Many traditional components of a herbaceous border are evident. The property became, writes Zoob, "the garden of [Virginia's] writing life." Zoob and Arber also take us inside the house and Virginia's "writing lodge" built in the orchard. All is much as the Woolfs knew it—but neater (VW was not tidy!). VERDICT Highly recommended to all Woolf readers, armchair and active gardeners, and those looking for country design inspiration, indoors and out.—Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal

Library Journal