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Review: JANE AUSTEN’S GARDEN by Molly Williams, Illustrated by Jessica Roux
- Christina Boyd
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
ABOUT THE BOOK
An elegantly illustrated celebration of Jane Austen’s life and literature as told through the flowers, plants, and landscapes that inspired her. Through explorations of the botanical inspirations and symbolism in Austen’s work and personal life, as well as historical information about the gardens and landscapes of the Regency Era, Jane Austen’s Garden will transport readers back in time to the lush English landscape of the early 1800s. Woven throughout are DIY projects to help you create a home garden worthy of a surprise visit from Lady Catherine de Bourgh or maybe just give your dining table a bit of historical flair. Accessible, entertaining, and enhanced by the enchanted illustrations of celebrated artist Jessica Roux, Jane Austen’s Garden is a fun twist on a familiar subject that will delight plant lovers and Janeites alike.
Opening Lines: “During the Regency Era, flowers wove their way into the fabric of societal expression and status.”
GUEST REVIEW by Sophia Rose
As a dilettante Janeite and gardener, I couldn’t resist a prettily illustrated volume with such a title as Jane Austen’s Garden. Gardener Molly Williams paired her knowledge of botany with her adoration of Jane Austen and her novels. This book is her love affair with Jane Austen and gardens.
The giftable, coffee table-style book with eye-catching illustrations and formatting is broken into easy-to-read sections: Intro, The Flower Garden, The Kitchen Garden, The Conservatory, The Parkland, The Hedgerow, Afternote, and Glossary. In these sections, there are little inserts with lovely Regency DIY projects like "Make your own Lavender Water" or "Design your own nosegay Posey."
The major sections provide explanations of general English garden history and specifics of the plants that were prevalent in Jane Austen’s day, related to locales in a Regency era person’s life, from thistles, herbs, fruits, bushes, and trees. There are quotes from the novels or Austen’s letters and discourse on the plants mentioned in the quotes. The explanations and notes do not delve too deeply into the background of the novels or gardening, so a new gardener or new-to-Austen reader won't be overwhelmed. However, this doesn't mean that anyone looking for scholarly-level detail should look elsewhere. I also found the terms and glossary a helpful summation of some of the concepts.
As to the illustrations of plants and artistic renderings from the Regency, they are exquisite. I admired them throughout the book, especially the drawings alongside the plant's history, how it grows, and where the plant was mentioned in Austen's letters or novels.
Jane Austen’s Garden aims for readers to page through an easy-to-follow joint-topic book in a satisfying experience. And this I did. I learned something of Regency-era gardening and botanical beauty, and how the people of the era thought about their natural world. I relished the notes of how Jane Austen brought her love of such into her novels and letters. A lovely gift for any Austen fan or gardener.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Molly Williams is the author of Jane Austen’s Garden: A Botanical Tour of the Classic Novels; The Junior Plant Lover’s Handbook: A Green-Thumb Guide for Kids; How to Speak Flower; Taming the Potted Beast: The Strange and Sensational History of the Not-So-Humble Houseplant; and Killer Plants: Growing and Caring for Flytraps, Pitcher Plants and Other Deadly Flora. Molly lives in New England with her wife and children but spends an ample amount of time on her family’s farm in Southern Illinois, where she was raised. She is an avid houseplant collector, gardener, florist, and teacher of many things, including writing. If you would like to reach her, she’s probably in a greenhouse somewhere, or you can visit her Instagram — @theplantladi.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Jessica Roux is a Nashville-based freelance illustrator and author, as well as a self-described plant and animal enthusiast. She loves exploring in her own backyard and being surrounded by an abundance of nature. Using subdued colors and rhythmic shapes, she renders flora and fauna with intricate detail reminiscent of old-world beauty.
Visit her online at her website or follow along on Instagram at @jessicasroux.
ABOUT GUEST REVIEWER Sophia Rose
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, baseball, cats, Scooby Doo, and chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. In 2012, she submitted her first book review and is currently an associate reviewer.
Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Sorry, no horror...or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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