Of flowers & a village - Wilfrid Blunt

Wilfrid Blunt (1901-1987) is probably best known today as a biographer of Linnaeus and as the author of the classic study The Art of Botanical Illustration. But Blunt also had his lighter side. Of Flowers & a Village is a novel written in the form of chatty letters from a doting godfather to his goddaughter, Flora, an enthusiastic (if inexperienced) gardener who is recovering from an illness that has left her temporarily bedridden. Although we learn a great deal about daily life in the village of Dewbury, the subject never strays far from gardening - by the novel's end, both Flora and the reader have received a gentle but thorough horticultural education. Never has learning about gardening been so much fun.