Synopses & Reviews
This reprint of the third book in Nichols's Allways trilogy contains a new foreword by Bryan Connon, Beverley Nichols's biographer. Set in the English countryside, the hilarious memoir is as much about the author's love for plants as it is about the village in which he lived. The depictions of flowers and ornamentals — "A single one of those gloxinias would be an event in Allways ... I should give a party for it" — are both inspiring and unforgettable. This is the voice of one whose chief endowment is an appreciation for plants and the landscape, including a keen understanding of the importance gardens play in an increasingly modern world.
Review
"While the ostensible topics are houses and people, it is Nichols' love of gardening, and the villagers who either encourage him or thwart him in its pursuit, that remains the lively theme through all the books."
—Seattle Times, September 2005
Synopsis
The third book in the Allways trilogy, A Village in a Valley is a delightful exploration of the village of Glatton---for which Allways is a pseudonym---and the people who lived and gardened there.
About the Author
Beverley Nichols (1898-1983) was a prolific writer on subjects ranging from religion to politics and travel, in addition to authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six autobiographies, and six plays. He is perhaps best remembered today for his gardening books. The first of them, Down the Garden Path, centered on his home and garden at Glatton and has been in print almost continuously since 1932. Merry Hall (1951) and its sequels Laughter on the Stairs (1953) and Sunlight on the Lawn (1956) document Nichols' travails in renovating a Georgian mansion and its gardens soon after the war. His final garden was at Sudbrook Cottage, which serves as the setting for Garden Open Today (1963) and Garden Open Tomorrow (1968). The progress of all three gardens was followed avidly by readers of his books and weekly magazine columns.