An absolutely fascinating book with wonderful photographs and an insight into the writers and their gardens that helped to inspire them. I bought it as a coffee table book to dip in and out of. My friends love it too as we are all avid gardeners.

A gardener's delight, a writer's retreat, a feast for the senses.

I've visited many of the homes/gardens profiled in this book, and all were an ethereal and profound experience in and of themselves. To have them all covered in one book is an absolute treat!

The Writer’s Garden: A Literary Journey Through Nature

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars

The Writer’s Garden by Jackie Bennett takes readers on a captivating journey through the gardens of literary giants, offering a visually stunning and fascinating exploration of the outdoor spaces that inspired some of literature’s greatest works. With its wealth of specially commissioned photography and archive images, this book provides rare glimpses into the lives and creative processes of beloved authors, shedding new light on their works and showcasing the beautiful gardens they called their own.

From Louisa May Alcott’s “Orchard House,” where she penned her timeless classic Little Women, to Agatha Christie’s Greenway and Virginia Woolf’s Monk’s House, this book delves into the flower gardens, vegetable plots, landscapes, and writing hideaways of thirty remarkable authors. Spanning centuries and continents, The Writer’s Garden offers a rich tapestry of insights into how outdoor spaces played a pivotal role in these writers’ lives and writing process.

One of the highlights of this book is the exquisite photography that captures the essence of each garden. The commissioned photographs beautifully complement the author’s descriptions, providing readers with a visual feast that brings these literary landscapes to life. Whether it is the vibrant blooms in Beatrix Potter’s garden or the serene tranquility of Edith Wharton’s Massachusetts home, the images transport readers into the very heart of these writers’ creative sanctuaries.

In addition to the stunning visuals, The Writer’s Garden also impresses with its collection of short essays. Each essay offers a glimpse into the history and significance of a particular garden, providing readers with context and background information that enhances their understanding and appreciation. The author’s prose is engaging and informative, striking a perfect balance between scholarly research and accessible storytelling. This makes the book not only a valuable resource for literature enthusiasts but also an enjoyable read for anyone with an appreciation for nature and creativity.

As a bibliophile myself, I found The Writer’s Garden to be a delightful addition to my collection. The book is packed with captivating stories and anecdotes about well-known authors such as Ernest Hemingway and Leo Tolstoy, George Sand and Roald Dahl. The diverse range of authors ensures that there is something for everyone within these pages.

Moreover, The Writer’s Garden would make an excellent coffee table book. Its visually striking design make it a joy to flip through time and time again. Whether you’re immersing yourself in the detailed essays or simply marveling at the captivating photographs, this book offers countless hours of exploration and inspiration.

In conclusion, The Writer’s Garden is a must-read for literature lovers and garden enthusiasts alike. Jackie Bennett has crafted an enchanting journey through time and space, unveiling the hidden connections between nature and creativity. With its wealth of beautiful images and insightful essays, this book not only deepens our understanding of literature’s greatest works but also celebrates the profound impact that gardens have had on the creative process.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this eBook.

A book about gardens and writers? Can a book be more perfect? As an avid gardener, this book gave me so much joy, The pictures were also beautiful to look at and it gave me so much inspiration for my upcoming gardening plans. This would make a lovely gift to someone with similar interests as me.

A lovely book a book of writers and their gardens.I really enjoyed seeking the beautiful nature these authors surrounded themselves with.A beautiful book to spend time with.#netgalley #quatrobooks.

Thank you to NetGalley for a reviewer's copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book and its concept. Seeing the personal gardens of some of the greatest writers of the past few generations was extremely inspiring and made me want to accelerate my gardening progress in my own garden (though I am more actively a reader in my garden than a writer). I think this book makes an excellent coffee table book as it's sure to spur conversation based on the authors it chronicles and the creative spaces they cultivated. With the exception of few American authors, the book did favor English authors and settings. I would love to see this evolve into a series that includes more latitudes and longitudes.

A pleasant book to browse, either indoors or out, showing us famous authors, and just enough for my layman opinion about their homes and gardens. And yes, I am going to damned well call these small mini-essays potted biographies and be done with it. Now, I'm more of a buildings person myself – I think the rooms and décor and substantial side of homes would tell you more about writers. But from Karen Blixen, much post-Kenya, to Agatha Christie's luxurious SW bolthole to, well, some Italian bloke I'd never heard of, we get here the famous creator and their gardens. The essays are nicely interspersed with the relevant captioned photos, and cover the person and their career, the stage at which they took over, bought or plain inherited the grounds, and what they did with them. And while I cannot guarantee every word has been updated here for this 2023 reissue, some attempt at summarising how the place is now (public, National Trust, something coming out of a wreck) is made to round things off.

And just to defy my comments, a lot of these authors really did want to get their green fingers showing. Dahl could garden for months on end, especially after tragedy or criticism. Goethe got down and did some landscaping and planning. Tolstoy had more orchards than most – some of the largest in Russia, we're told. And those details do surely tell us something of the creators, even if, say, Mr Virginia Woolf seemed more hands-on than she was, or gardeners and designers were employed.

Pretty comprehensive (I guess Dylan Thomas left Fern Hill without making enough of a mark to feature) this is a pretty and enjoyable amble through famous slices of landscape. It will suit the plant-lover and bibliophile audiences equally well. A strong four stars.

Just what every reader needs!

This book is delightful. What better way to get to know the writer we all love than to explore their gardens. Does any space truly give any more humble inspiration than being outdoor surrounded by nature.

The pictures are stunning and the book is a treat! I highly recommend this one for your collection.


Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the arc of this book.

Jackie Bennett's beautiful book "The Writer's Garden" takes readers on a guided tour through the gardens of 28 authors, which are shown in gorgeous color photographs and accompanied by a few pages of text detailing the trees, flowers and features of each and explaining the ways in which each garden shaped the author's literary work. I began the book thinking that I would page forward to the gardens that I had visited, such as Henry James's Lamb House and Edith Wharton's garden at The Mount, or to those of authors who are my particular favorites, such as Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, William Wordsworth and Ernest Hemingway, but almost immediately I was drawn into the first chapter on Louisa May Alcott's garden at Orchard House and ended up reading the book straight through from start to finish. I particularly enjoyed Bennett's short biographies of the authors at the end of each chapter, which introduced me to some I hadn't been familiar with and had me jotting down more than a few books for my "To Read" list. I thoroughly enjoyed "The Writer's Garden" and will be buying a hardcover copy for my library. I recommend it as a beautiful book to gift to the readers and gardeners in your life.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Frances Lincoln for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

After finishing this book, I made a mind note, telling myself that I'll definitely go to one of these gardens/museums one fine day! The most anticipated for me would be to visit the 'Secret Garden' of Frances Hodgson Burnett at Great Maytham Hall in Kent, George Sand's maison in Nohant-Vic and Leo Tolstoy's Yasnaya Polyana in Tula.

Unfortunately this title expired before I could give it a thorough read. I had a short flip through it when I got it and thought it was a lovely and inspirational book, but I cannot claim to be able to provide a more detailed review. Sorry, I think its partly because I had tech problems and had to delete and reinstall the shelf app that the title did not reload.

The Writer’s Garden: How Gardens Inspired our Best-Loved Authors
Jackie Bennett
Author Jackie Bennett transports his readers to the gardens that inspired many authors. He provides photographs as well as commentary on 18 gardens and 20 authors. This book is inspiring in several ways: the desire to garden, the desire to write and the desire to read.
Thank you Netgalley for a review copy of The Writer’s Garden. The review is my unbiased opinion.

A gorgeous collection of information about writers and the gardens that surrounded them. Will be better served in printed form than digital.

This beautifully photographed book tells the biographies of famous authors and their estates/gardens. It is supposedly the world’s best loved authors but it is primarily the rich, white men and women who had such fancy estates or wealth and fame that their homes and gardens were maintained well after their deaths. They were often spectacularly wealthy and privileged, and are largely British authors although there are some from other countries. My favorites were those from elsewhere in the world like Hemingway and Tolstoy.

There are not details on the plants and in many cases there are not gardens and flowers as much as rolling hills and land now. There are many beautiful pictures though and lots of the gardens are the typical English gardens with scrambling roses and plantings that are maintained by crews of volunteers. The book points out that they generally do not look like the gardens that were there at the time but they are still lovely. Interesting facts are throughout about the writers and their work.

I would have loved real historic photos of what the gardens of famous writers looked like at the time they were writing there, but these are just homes preserved by new owners or often by historical societies. It’s still a lush, beautiful journey throughout many styles of gardens and an interesting look at the lives of many classic authors.

I read a temporary digital version of this book for review.

This beautiful full color coffee table book features the gardens of famous authors. Each section describes the place(s) the author lived and a description and photos of the garden. At the end of the section is a very brief bio of the author. I was disappointed to see that the author chose to dead-name Gloria Hemingway. The publisher is in the U.K. and therefore the book is very Europe-centric with only 5 gardens outside of Europe (and none of those 5 were outside the U.S.). The photos are absolutely beautiful and made me really wish to visit England in the Spring.

A beautiful book full of inspiring and exquisite photographs. The gardens of many famous authors are thoroughly explored and the stories behind them are very interesting and intriguing. Would make a gorgeous gift for gardening or literary enthusiasts. Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion for the ARC via NetGalley

Beautifully illustrated and with narrative about the writers who inhabited and were inspired by the gardens in question. I wished perhaps for more depth of analysis, tying the botany to the themes of the writing deeper, but that is a desire particular I suspect only to me.

The book, an update from an original edition that appeared in 2014, showcases twenty-eight classic writers and their gardens. Some of the gardens served as inspiration to the writers while others used their gardens simply as a peaceful retreat for practicing their craft.

These are gardens and homes that have been preserved and many are now open to the public. In some instances, arrangements were made before the author's death and properties were donated to organizations such as the National Trust in England and similar entities. Others were rescued by volunteers who recognized their literary significance and banded together to prevent probable destruction. Case in point – William Wordsworth's Lake District home and garden was already slated to be razed to make way for a bus station when a group of local citizens raised the necessary funds to purchase the property just days before the tear-down date.

The majority of the gardens are located in Europe and feature writers such as Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Leo Tolstoy and George Sand. Six gardens are in the United States (Louisa May Alcott, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Thomas Mann and Edith Wharton).

I love classics and gardens, and this book appealed greatly to me.

It’s laid out beautifully, with multiple photographs of each garden, clean text, and in the back of the book - garden visiting information 😍, along with selected reading suggestions.

While you might be tempted at first glance to just go through the beautiful photos, you’ll eventually want to read the accompanying text to each garden and home, and likely learn a lot.

If you’re a fan of classic authors and beautiful gardens, you’ll want to add this one to your bookshelf. It also serves as a great source of inspiration, if on a smaller scale for many readers.



Thank you to Frances Lincoln and NetGalley for the DRC!

My two great loves in this world are books and gardening, so I was more than a little excited to read The Writer's Garden. I have read many books and seen many photos of the places covered in this book, so I appreciated seeing new photos of these gardens instead of the same old stock photos I've been clipping/saving from magazines/Pinterest for years. Many of these gardens are open to the public, and I've definitely discovered some new ones to add to my travel bucket list.