Monk’s House in Sussex is the former home of
Leonard and Virginia Woolf. It was bought by them in
1919 as a country retreat, somewhere they came to read,
write and work in the garden. From the overgrown land
behind the house they created a brilliant patchwork of
garden rooms, linked by brick paths, secluded behind
flint walls and yew hedges. The story of this magical
garden is the subject of this book and the author has
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. Virginia wrote most of her major novels at
Monk’s House, at first in a converted tool shed, and
later in her purpose-built wooden writing lodge tucked
into a corner of the orchard. Caroline Zoob
lived with her husband, Jonathan, at Monk’s House for
over a decade as tenants of the National Trust, and has
an intimate knowledge of the garden they tended and
planted. The photographer, Caroline Arber, was a
frequent visitor to the house during their tenancy and
her spectacular photographs, published here for the
first time, often reveal the garden as it is never seen
by the public: at dawn, in the depths of winter, at
dusk. The photographs and text, enriched with rare
archive images and embroidered garden plans, take 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 garden
room is presented in the context of the lives of the
Woolfs, with fascinating glimpses into their daily
routines at Rodmell. This beautiful book is an
absorbing account of the creation of a garden which will
appeal equally to gardeners and those with an interest
in Virginia and Leonard Woolf.
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