Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Life in the Garden

By: Penelope Lively
Narrated by: Heather Lloyd
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.50

Buy for $13.50

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

From the Booker Prize winner and national best-selling author, reflections on gardening, art, literature, and life

Penelope Lively takes up her key themes of time and memory and her lifelong passions for art, literature, and gardening in this philosophical and poetic memoir. From the courtyards of her childhood home in Cairo to a family cottage in Somerset, to her own gardens in Oxford and London, Lively conducts an expert tour, taking us from Eden to Sissinghurst and into her own backyard, traversing the lives of writers like Virginia Woolf and Philip Larkin while imparting her own sly and spare wisdom.

"Her body of work proves that certain themes never go out of fashion," writes the New York Times Book Review, as true of this beautiful volume as of the rest of the Lively canon. Now in her 84th year, Lively muses, "To garden is to elide past, present, and future; it is a defiance of time."

©2017 Penelope Lively (P)2018 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"I have no idea what Penelope Lively sounds like, but as far as I'm concerned, narrator Helen Lloyd channels the 84-year-old esteemed author perfectly. Her mellow, educated tone is just right for the Booker Prize-winning Lively's newest book... These are audio essays for gardening enthusiasts to savor." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Life in the Garden

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    42
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Read if You Love Gardening and Litature!

Listen while gardening. It was interesting, but not something I would normally read. I purchased a few of the books that were mentioned in this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable Read

Interesting read and enjoyable with many great references to gardening and even some of its history. I would have given it a solid five star review but for the unnecessary shots at Monty Don whom I happen to like and has written some great books too on gardening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An absolute joy to read

I highly suggest anyone with a passion for gardening read it, you will absolutely enjoy it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Soothing and Inspiring

A soothing and inspiring listen. 1 ding on Performance because Narrator repeatedly mispronounced My Ántonia by Willa Cather. Should be AN-tə-nee-ə.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very good

Very good enjoyed the garden piece of it. And also the story side of it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Little more than jottings

Less informative than a Wikipedia article. Author appears to have decided on some topic headings and jotted down some notes. Very disappointing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful