An irresistible little book of quotations from many writers with robust views on a subject close to all our hearts, and illustrated by a young artist with a delightfully unpredictable viewpoint of her own. From Jane Austen to Stevie Smith, from Daisy Ashford to Oscar Wilde, from Shakespeare to Vita Sackville-West, the brief quotations offer an affectionate and sometimes caustic view of gardens and gardening, houses and housekeeping, and the beauties and perils of the countryside beyond the garden wall. The miniature figures that people the pages, admiring (and sometimes deploring) nature and their surroundings, are characterful and humorous. Laura Stoddart's illustrations are as pretty as they are witty, and the flowers and trees, the greenhouses, gardens and vistas and even the odd pieces of furniture that are scattered through the text make this the most enchanting gift book of the year. Laura Stoddart trained at the Royal College of Art and was the youngest artist ever to be commissioned to design the Christmas stamps for the Royal Mail. Since then her work has appeared in many magazines, on greetings cards and giftwrap, and on packaging for Crabtree & Eveyln and the New York label, Kate Spade.