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Book Review – Hortobiography by Carol Klein @eburypublishing

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About the Book

Book cover of Hortobiography by Carol Klein

Carol Klein is one of Britain’s best loved horticulturists, and for decades gardening has been at the heart of her extraordinary life. From her childhood adventures in Manchester to her first experiments in plantswomanship at Glebe Cottage, and from training as an artist and a teacher, and then finding an entirely unexpected career as one of Britain’s most beloved television presenters, in this long-awaited memoir Carol tells the story of the people, places and plants that have shaped her life.

Exploring why our relationship with the natural world is so important, and how it brings joy, creativity and good health to our lives, Carol also offers irresistible insights on her favourite flowers and plants, and how to help them flourish. A story of a life lived happily amongst the greenery, this book is the perfect companion for anyone who has sought solace in the natural world.

Format: Hardcover (336 pages) Publisher: Ebury Press
Publication date: 5th September 2024 Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir

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My Review

Hortobiography certainly lives up to its clever title (thought up by Carol’s husband) being a combination of revealing memoir and passionate case for the importance of gardening as a way of keeping us in touch with nature and promoting wellbeing.

In the book Carol describes her childhood in Manchester, her adventures abroad as a student, her career as an art teacher, the founding of her own nursery business – Glebe Cottage Plants – and exhibiting at flower shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show.

Her memoir is surprisingly revealing describing the failure of her first marriage, struggles with depression and her recent experience of breast cancer. In between, there are sections on groups of plants – poppies, lilies, foxgloves, lupins, etc – with advice on their cultivation. Most of these have previously appeared in other publications such as Gardeners’ World magazine. Some have clear links to episodes in her life. For example, her wedding bouquet was made up of lilies – although there’s a story behind that as well. Others less so and, at times, they did feel like fillers. Having said that, if you’re hunting for the perfect variety of a particular flower or tree you will find them immensely useful. As someone trying to tame their own ‘mature’ garden, I loved the sections describing how she and her husband Neil created their garden at Glebe Cottage from pretty much nothing.

Many of us will know Carol from her TV series – my favourite being Life in a Cottage Garden – or her appearances on Gardeners’ World. The passion for plants and the joy of gardening that she displays on the screen comes across in spades (pardon the pun) in the book. She is a strong advocate of including gardening in the National Curriculum and, knowing her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets her way. She’s less keen on presenters of gardening programmes who are merely ‘presenters’ rather than true gardening experts. And since she says that, for her, gardening is a process and something that can never be considered finished, I think we can probably hazard a guess about what she thinks of the current vogue for garden makeover shows.

If, like me, you’re a fan of Carol Klein, you will love Hortobiography. Her unceasing passion for gardening and for passing that love on to others oozes from every page. Carol narrates the audiobook version and I can imagine that would be a wonderful way to consume the book. I’ll leave you with this quote: ‘Gardeners need to be optimists’. I think we could all do with a dose of that at the moment and what could be more optimistic than sowing a seed or, if you’re thinking really longterm, planting a tree that will outlive you but give pleasure to future generations.

Signed copy of Hortobiography by Carol Klein

I was lucky enough to hear Carol talk about her book at Henley Literary Festival on 4th October and, even better, to exchange a few words with her as she signed my book. (Trevor is my husband and fellow gardener.)

In three words: Authentic, fascinating, inspiring
Try something similar: A Fenland Garden by Francis Pryor

About the Author

Carol Klein is one of the most familiar gardening experts working in the media today, famous for her regular role as a presenter on Gardeners’World since 1998. Her natural, down-to-earth approach has made her a popular and trusted figure amongst the British (gardening) public. Carol originally studied fine art and spent many years teaching art in schools and colleges. She started gardening and running a nursery from her home in Devon, which became internationally renowned. She began exhibiting at RHS shows in 1990 and went on to win multiple gold medals at Chelsea, Hampton Court, Westminster and Malvern.

Her acclaimed TV series include Wild About the Garden, Grow Your Own Veg, Plant Odysseys and Great British Gardens. In 2011, a 6-part seriesbased on a year in her own garden at Glebe Cottage, Life In a Cottage Garden, was shown and accompanied her book of the same title. It has been repeated every year since. It won TV Broadcast of the Year at the Garden Media Guild, as did ‘Scent’, Grow Your Own Veg, and Great British Gardens. In 2019 the GMG awarded her their Lifetime Achievement Award. Most recently, she has presented Gardening with Carol Klein, Spring Gardening with Carol Klein and Summer Gardening on Channel 5 filmed at Glebe Cottage.

In 2018 the RHS awarded her their highest accolade The Victoria Medal of Honour. In 2023, Carol was named Iconic Horticultural Hero by the RHS.

My Week in Books – 6th October 2024

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My Week in Books

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.  

Tuesday – My take on this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books I Read For Book Clubs.

Wednesday – As always WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading. Go on, you know you want to.

Thursday – I shared My Top Five September 2024 Reads.

Saturday – I took part in the #6Degrees of Separation meme forging a bookish chain from Long Island by Colm Tóibín to Precipice by Robert Harris.

New arrivals

This week’s bumper book haul is courtesy of the fabulous Oxfam bookshop in Henley-on- Thames. Well, where else are you going to spend time between events at the Literary Festival? Plus a NetGalley approval.

The Queen of Dirt IslandThe Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan (Penguin)

The Aylward women are mad about each other, but you wouldn’t always think it. You’d have to know them to know – in spite of what the neighbours might say about raised voices and dramatic scenes – that their house is a place of peace, filled with love, a refuge from the sadness and cruelty of the world.

Their story begins at an end and ends at a beginning. It’s a story of terrible betrayals and fierce loyalties, of isolation and togetherness, of transgression, forgiveness, desire, and love. About all the things family can be and all the things it sometimes isn’t. More than anything, it is an uplifting celebration of fierce, loyal love and the powerful stories that last generations.

Black Mamba BoyBlack Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed (Harper Collins)

Aden, Yemen, 1935; a city vibrant, alive, and full of hidden dangers. And home to Jama, a ten year-old boy. But then his mother dies unexpectedly and he finds himself alone in the world.

Jama is forced home to his native Somalia, the land of his nomadic ancestors. War is on the horizon and the fascist Italian forces who control parts of East Africa are preparing for battle. Yet Jama cannot rest until he discovers whether his father, who has been absent from his life since he was a baby, is alive somewhere.

And so begins an epic journey which will take Jama north through Djibouti, war-torn Eritrea and Sudan, to Egypt. And from there, aboard a ship transporting Jewish refugees just released from German concentration camps, across the seas to Britain and freedom.

This story of one boy’s long walk to freedom is also the story of how the Second World War affected Africa and its people; a story of displacement and family.

The Glass RoomThe Glass Room by Simon Mawer (Little Brown)

Cool. Balanced. Modern. The precisions of science, the wild variance of lust, the catharsis of confession and the fear of failure – these are things that happen in the Glass Room.

High on a Czechoslovak hill, the Landauer House shines as a wonder of steel and glass and onyx built specially for newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer, a Jew married to a gentile. But the radiant honesty of 1930 that the house, with its unique Glass Room, seems to engender quickly tarnishes as the storm clouds of WW2 gather, and eventually the family must flee, accompanied by Viktor’s lover and her child.

But the house’s story is far from over, and as it passes from hand to hand, from Czech to Russian, both the best and the worst of the history of Eastern Europe becomes somehow embodied and perhaps emboldened within the beautiful and austere surfaces and planes so carefully designed, until events become full-circle.

The Betrayal of Thomas TrueThe Betrayal of Thomas True by A. J. West (Orenda)

It is the year 1710, and Thomas True has arrived on old London Bridge with a dangerous secret. One night, lost amongst the squalor of London’s hidden back streets, he finds himself drawn into the outrageous underworld of the molly houses.

Meanwhile, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to hide his double life as Lotty, the molly’s silent guard. When the queen of all ‘he-harlots’, Mother Clap, confides in him about a deadly threat, he realises his friends are facing imminent execution.

To the horror of all mollies, there is a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets to a pair of murderous Justices, hell-bent on punishing sinners with the noose.

Can Gabriel unmask the traitor before it’s too late? Can he save hapless Thomas from peril, and their own impossible love?

The Map of BonesThe Map of Bones (The Joubert Family Chronicles #4) by Kate Mosse (eARC, Mantle via NetGalley)

Olifantshoek, Southern Africa, 1688. When the violent Cape wind blows from the south-east, they say the voices of the unquiet dead can be heard whispering through the deserted valley. Suzanne Joubert, a Huguenot refugee from war-torn France, is here to walk in her cousin’s footsteps. Louise Reydon-Joubert, the notorious she-captain and pirate commander, landed at the Cape of Good Hope more than sixty years ago, then disappeared from the record as if she had never existed. Suzanne has come to find her – to lay the stories to rest. But all is not as it seems . . .

Franschhoek, Southern Africa, 1862. Nearly one hundred and eighty years after Suzanne’s perilous journey, another intrepid and courageous woman of the Joubert family – Isabelle Lepard – has journeyed to the small frontier town once known as Oliftantshoek in search of her long-lost relations. A journalist and travel writer, intent on putting the women of her family back into the history books, she quickly discovers that the tragedies and crimes of the past are far from over. Isabelle faces a race against time if she is not only going to discover the truth but escape with her life . . .

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: Gabriel’s Moon by William Boyd
  • Book Review: Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
  • Book Review: Hortobiography by Carol Klein
  • Book Review: Meadowlands Dawn by Jo Beall