Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, meticulously researched, very well written, deserves all the praises heaped upon it. Moreover, not only is it a true who-and-why-dunnit, but it also sheds light on Victorian middle-class values and customs, and on police work in the 1800s. However, I don't much like books which dwell on the gruesome murder of a small child and the character of the murderer, so I didn't especially enjoy it.To more cheerful matters, I have now received my copy of the National Gardens Scheme Yellow Book for 2009, see one of their photos above. I love visiting and nosing around other people's back gardens, large and small. It's so interesting what amateur gardeners achieve in the tiniest gardens - sometimes it seems to me they do just as well or better than the pros.
You can buy the Yellow Book for your county if you don't want to splash out for the whole of England and Wales.
6 comments:
Oh, I would LOVE my garden to look like that.
ditto what jan said!
lx
That garden looks lovely.
I've been dithering about buying that book too, so it was interesting to read your post. I'm not sure I want to read about something so disturbing, so will probably give it a miss.
What a beautiful garden, I wouldn't mind mine looking that colourful this summer.
Yes, I'd be pretty keen to have a garden like that too! Perhaps if I didn't spend time messing about with books and computers... But, even if you don't want the whole thing, do buy the Yellow Book for your county - if you live in England or Wales, that is. I don't suppose there are so many gardens in Dubai.
I have been engrossed in reading Mr Whicher for the last few days, for which I must thank you. It is a very disturbing story and I had to skip some passages but it is an excellent account of the early development of detective work in Victorian times. I also found the connections made between the real case and subsequent detective stories fascinating.
Post a Comment