annieb123
Written on Aug 14, 2021
In Kiltumper is a wonderfully written ode to gardening passion and life, and an engaging personal biography of an Irish garden by Niall Williams and Christine Breen. Due out in late Aug 2021 from Bloomsbury, it's 304 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
It's presented in chronological chapters, starting in January, and contains snippets and conversations from the owner/residents about how they came to move to Ireland from New York 35 years ago to make a life in the countryside writing and gardening and how they have impacted the place they live and how it's also shaped them, profoundly. It contains a number of rough line drawn illustrations which go very well with the casual, intimate details of the year and what their gardening life has entailed.
There's an almost lyrical quality to the writing, told in both the authors' voices in contrapuntal prose. The voices are delineated by typeset - italics interspersed with plain text and ruminating on subjects as diverse as climate change and windmill turbines to Christine Breen's encounters with cancer and subsequent treatments and recovery (including a truly harrowing account of her extreme allergic reaction to chemotherapy - *brr*).
Apart from the cover, which is lush and beautiful, the book doesn't contain any photographs, just beautifully written prose and the simple line drawings. I found it a perfect companion for a week's slow reading enjoyment. This would be a good choice for library acquisition, for gardeners, and lovers of horticulture, as well as making a lovely gift.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.