Book description
The Solitary Summer, by Elizabeth Von Arnim - Akasha Classics, AkashaPublishing.Com - May 2nd. - Last night after dinner, when we were in the garden, I said, "I want to be alone for a whole summer, and get to the very dregs of life. I want to be as idle…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Solitary Summer as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This 1899 book is more memoir than novel, and it’s a charming one.
The narrator lives with her husband (whom she amusingly calls The Man of Wrath) and her small daughters on their German country estate. In the first chapter, she announces that she wants to spend her summer alone in the garden, where she is happiest: “I want to be as idle as I can, so that my soul may have time to grow.”
And although she can’t quite manage a summer of solitude – the demands of her family and tenants require attention—the novel still shows the restorative…
From Ginny's list on gardens as places of discovery and change.
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