The Morville Hours

I confess I am American and not a botanist. This lovely story had elements that were tough going for me and I gave up after 25 pages.

Yes, and you want to be a gardener as well as a lover of English local history over time to get the most out of this. I am so it worked well for me.

Morville Hours interweaves the natural (seasons, months, geology) with social (family history, local history) from the starting point of her village, and especially her garden. Gardening never dominates the book and while I'm sure it would help to be knowledgable on the topic, you needn't be (I'm certainly not) to appreciate the book.