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The Ghost in the Garden 
The Ghost in the Garden : In Search of Darwin's Lost Garden | Jude Piesse
3 posts | 1 read | 4 to read
Blending biography, nature writing, and memoir, The Ghost in the Gardenoffers a fresh perspective on Darwin's legacy by exploring the history of his childhood garden in Shropshire and the men and women who tended it. Darwin never stopped thinking about the garden at his childhood home, The Mount. It was here, under the tutelage of his green-fingered mother and sisters, that he first examined the reproductive cycle of flowers, collected birds' eggs, and later, with assistance from the house's gardeners, began the experiments that would lead to his theory of evolution. Only two acres of the original site remain, now dominated by overgrown ashes, sycamores, and hollies; the carefully tended flowerbeds and circular flower garden are buried under suburban housing, the hothouses where the Darwins grew experimental pineapples long gone. A century and a half later, with one small child in tow and another on the way, Jude Piesse finds herself living next door to the old kitchen garden where, as a boy, Darwin used to steal fruit. Walking the perimeter of the former garden with her newborn daughter almost daily, she wonders what impact the garden and the people who tended it had on Darwin's work. The Ghost in the Gardenre-examines Darwin's legacy, tracing the origins of his theory and uncovering the lost histories of those who inspired it. It is a ramble through the terrains of memory, legacy, family, and the interconnectedness of all things.
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★★★★★

I received a free copy of this book through LibraryThing in exchange for a review.

Piesse has written a wonderful, meandering exploration of the Darwin family, their childhood garden in Shrewsbury, her own journey into motherhood as an academic, garden labour and the people who do it, and the importance of place and the living world as we all face the crisis of global heating. ⬇ï¸

bibliothecarivs My family and I briefly visited Shrewsbury from the US in Oct 2016 so it was interesting to think of the author possibly being in the town and writing the book while we were there.

It was very strange to be reading two nonfiction books at the same time (this one and Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey) that include people killing rabbits by throwing stones.

#UniteAgainstBookBans #LetUtahRead 🔚
2mo
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On page 161 (50% done)

#UniteAgainstBookBans #LetUtahRead

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