Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Full Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up

In "The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise," Olivia Laing delves into the lush terrain of gardens with a keen eye for the political, the personal, and the profound. Through a masterful exploration of paradise, queerness, and famous English gardens, Laing invites readers on a journey that transcends mere horticulture, delving deep into community care and our relationships with land.

Laing's narrative is a rich tapestry, woven with threads of history, literature, and social critique. With an unwavering gaze, they dismantle our preconceived notions of gardens as mere patches of greenery, revealing them instead as battlegrounds of power and resistance. Through Laing's lens, gardens emerge as sites of both cultural memory and radical possibility, challenging us to rethink our relationship with nature and each other.

What sets "The Garden Against Time" apart is its unflinching commitment to liberation. Laing refuses to sanitize the unruliness of nature, instead celebrating its wild, untamed beauty. In their exploration of Edenic myths and Milton's "Paradise Lost," they offer a searing critique of capitalism and colonialism, exposing how these systems have shaped our understanding and expectations of paradise.

“The Garden Against Time” moves beyond mere critique to echo calls for solidarity and collective liberation. Through Laing's story of restoring their own garden, we are reminded of the transformative power of tending to the land and tending to ourselves. They skillfully navigate the intersections of class, race, and gender, illuminating how gardens often reflect the power dynamics of the societies that tend them.

In conclusion, "The Garden Against Time" is a tour de force that transcends genre and expectation. With luscious prose and incisive analysis, Olivia Laing invites us to reimagine our relationship with the natural world and each other. This book is not just a garden; it is a sanctuary, a refuge, and a call to arms. As Laing instructs, “Take it outside and shake the seed.”

📖 Recommended For: Advocates for Environmental Justice, Intersectional Activists, Readers Challenging Colonial Narratives, Seekers of Personal Narratives with Political Impact, Fans of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass.

🔑 Key Themes: Environmental Justice and Political Liberation, Deconstructing Colonialist Ideals of Paradise, Interconnectedness of Nature and Power Dynamics, Resilience and Healing Through Gardening.

Content / Trigger Warnings: War (moderate), forced institutionalization (minor), cancer (minor), pandemic (moderate)

I found this interesting, but it certainly wasn’t my usual book nor a style that I particularly enjoy. The book is written as though it itself is a walk through a garden, meandering and pausing for a rest, for a snack, to feel the softness of new petals or to breathe in the scent of the budding rose.

I found it boring in many parts, simply because I’m not drawn to discussions of historical gardens, nor celebrity figures, nor landscaping in general, and little of the referenced poetry moved me.

I do like a garden, however, and I much enjoy a deep dive into the etymology of linguistic terms; the connection to slavery I also found more interesting.

Overall for me this was a bare 3/5, but I expect others may love it; it just wasn’t my preferred flavour.

With thanks to NetGalley for the free eARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved getting to read about a restoration of a garden. It was a wonderfully done story and I enjoyed getting to read about this. Olivia Laing writes a strong story and I enjoyed going on this journey.

Once again, Laing has written a book that thoughtfully intertwines personal essay with rich historical context, this time on the subject of gardens. I was looking forward to this book as a gardener and also as a lover of Olivia Laing's past books (particularly Trip to Echo Springs). Laing's prose about the garden was full of rich sensory details that drew me in ("By mid-October the rain had stopped and there was a succession of buttery yellow days."), and her acknowledgment of the privilege of who can own and access land, the exploited labor of those who made some famous English gardens possible, as well as the critical look at the literary context of Paradise captured great nuance. My only criticism is that many of the names Laing pulled into this work I was unfamiliar with (US read here). Nevertheless, I've added them to my list to research and it was such a delightful read that has me excited for warmer days in the garden. I recommend this book to anyone who even wishes they had a green thumb or who resonates with what I consider the thesis of Laing's book "We need gardens and the life they support established everywhere if we are to survive..."

This was a lovely book. I never expected to get so much Queer English gardener history, but I loved it!