The Morville Hours

March 16, 2009
Three writers explore the history of gardening.
The Morville Hours: The Story of a Garden
Katherine Swift
. Walker
, $27 (384p) ISBN 978-0-8027-1753-5

Swift, a former London Times
gardening columnist, invites readers to slow down, taste the fresh fruit and sniff the blooming flowers. Entwining gardening with natural and local history, family memories, garden visitors like insects, animals and people, and religious traditions, Swift explores the cycles of the seasons and life while providing a fresh breath of country air. Was quince responsible for the Trojan War as well as Adam and Eve's fall from Paradise? Garden tidbits, such as pear trees living for 250 years and damson plums having provided the dye for British military uniforms, are abundant. But more so, Swift offers an exploration of the world as seen through the eyes of a longtime gardener. The months in the garden are explored alongside the medieval Catholic book of hours; days and seasons cycle with Swift's narratives of garden design, Roman history, astronomy and brain chemistry. Swift's meditative prose should appeal to gardeners (armchair or soil-based) and nature lovers alike with its invitation to pause for reflection.

March 1, 2009
In 1988, the author and her husband obtained a 20-year lease at Dower House, Morville, Shropshire, England, from the National Trust and with their permission set about creating a garden. Despite the subtitle, her book is about neither the garden nor the task of gardening; it is a collection of thoughts and passages on various subjects, from hay making and sheep shearing to church history and astronomy. The chapters are titled by the hours of the Divine Office, the daily routine of worship practiced by the monks. Like the medieval "Book of Hours", Swift takes her readers through the seasons of her garden year, exploring the histories of the families who once lived there as well as occasional muses of her own personal autobiography. Eloquently written but hard to categorize, the book may appeal more to history enthusiasts rather than gardeners. Recommended for public libraries.Phillip Oliver, Univ. of North Alabama Lib., Florence

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2009
Taking possession of Morville, a centuries-old Shropshire estate, Swift had to prove to England's National Trust that she was equal to the task of restoring the massive gardens to a state that would both honor their venerable history and reflect their natural beauty. In truth, there was no one more capable of acknowledging a heritage that included gentry and clergy, royalty and paupers. A born naturalist with a keen eye, Swift delved into the property's past with the emotional sensitivity of a poet and the solemn tenacity of a historical scholar. Season by season, Swift chronicles the changes she envisioned and accomplished, using the monastic Book of Hours as both her guide and touchstone. Though her reflections might begin with the memory of a moonlight stroll down a snow-covered path, Swift is quick to position these personal revelations within the timeless context of Morvilles ancestry. Withrhapsodic eloquence and passionate devotion, Swift imparts the rewards and discoveries inherent in such a multifaceted commitment to time and place.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)