The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72

by Molly Peacock Narrated by Jill Tanner

Overview

In The Paper Garden, celebrated poet Molly Peacock explores the remarkable life of 18th-century British gentlewoman-turned-artist Mary Delany. In the 1770s, at the age of 72, the twice-widowed and nearly broke Delany turned her interest in botany into beautiful paper "mosaick" flowers still revered today. ". not only an introduction to a unique artist, but also a whole bouquet of thoughts and observations about the flow of life."-Washington Post

Editorial Reviews

Michael Dirda

…a beautifully designed, eye-catching book…it's also as intricately made as Mary Delany's paper flowers. Peacock doesn't aim just to retell the sometimes chattellike, sometimes independent existence of an upper-class woman whose acquaintances ranged from Jonathan Swift and the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks to the King and Queen of England. Nor is she content simply to set up a counterpoint with her own background, career and second marriage…Instead, she weaves in and out between the two, using Delany's flower mosaics as the starting points for reflections on love, family, art, friendship, illness and vocation…Here, then, is not only an introduction to a unique artist, but also a whole bouquet of thoughts and observations about the flow of life…
—The Washington Post

Andrea Wulf

…Peacock takes the reader on a journey that, however obscure or strange the link might be, is a graceful meditation on botany, nature, life and age…Delany's story abounds with energy as Peacock brings her alive. Like her glorious multilayered collages, Delany is so vivid a character she almost jumps from the page.
—The New York Times

From the Publisher

[A] graceful meditation on botany, nature, life and age...Delaney's story abounds with energy as Peacock brings her alive. Like her glorious multilayered collages, Delany is so vivid a character she almost jumps from the page."-New York Times Book Review” —New York Times Book Review

“A beautifully designed, eye-catching book...[The Paper Garden] is a celebration of second chances and the possibility -so attractive to those of a certain age - of an unexpected blossoming late in life....” —Washington Post

“This book layers Delany's life and work over Peacock's. It is organized by flower - forget-me-not, thistle, poppy, etc., each a metaphor for a different phase in Delany's life...the book itself is a complicated, delicate and beautiful collage.” —Los Angeles Times

“Possessed of a discerning eye, Peacock...lavishes attention on Mary's life, both social and artistic, drenching us in vivid, sensory language as if we were adrift in champagne.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Physically beautiful and emotionally transporting... To call The Paper Garden a biography is to sell it short...a sumptuous bounty of gorgeous words, striking mosaics and a spirit of joy.” —Chicago Tribune

Kirkus Reviews

Acclaimed poet Peacock (Second Blush, 2008, etc.) chronicles her fascination with the life of Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700–1788), a largely forgotten aristocrat who, at the age of 72, created a series of beautiful cut-paper botanical mosaics.

The author entwines the story of Delany with private reflections on her own life as an artist and a woman. As Peacock undertook her eccentric quest to discover the life of the woman who created the beautiful paper mosaics that she so admired, she discovered resonant parallels. Both struggled as women and artists; both had failed first marriages and deeply satisfying second marriages; both confronted the possibility and, in the case of Delany, the reality, of the death of those cherished lovers; both worked to free themselves in adulthood from the bonds and obligations of painful family histories. Chronicling Delany's first abusive marriage and her struggles to preserve her independence as a young widow in a repressive era, Peacock reflects on her mother's oddly similar challenges with poverty and childrearing two centuries later. Throughout, the author elegantly reflects on the idea that certain works of art belong to certain moments of our lives; it is possible to encounter some works too early to understand them fully, and it is equally possible to find one'smétierwell into late adulthood. In a lightly managed running metaphor, Peacock examines the botanical life and reproductive cycle of the flowers depicted by Delany. Curiously and somewhat digressively structured, the book provides an intriguing, evocative aesthetic experience.

A lyrical, meditative rumination on art and the blossoming beauty of self that can be the gift of age and love.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170529452
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	05/11/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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