The latests in my reviews of London books is Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf
Kew Gardens is one of Virginia Woolf’s earliest short stories written around 1917. It was originally published in her first collection of fiction, Monday or Tuesday in 1921. In 2015, The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew published a charming hardback version of this well known story complete with delightful illustrations by Livi Mills.
The whole of this story is set in Kew Gardens on a hot day in July. This is a story of captured moments rather than one thick with plot. It is a snap shot of snippets of conversations and observations as a number of characters stroll past the same flower bed mostly oblivious of one another.
The story opens with Simon, his wife Eleanor and their children. Simon is slightly ahead of his family and reflecting on an earlier time in Kew when he proposed to Lilly, the woman who would never become his wife. Despite his declaration that this was for the best, one is left with the sense that he is not being altogether truthful. Their is a wistfulness in his mood.
Two men then appear, the older who appears confused and rambling as he talks of other gardens and other occasions, clearly distressed by tumultuous events in his life. The younger man, William tries to steer him and distract him from his fevered mutterings
They are closely followed by two ‘lower middle class’ women. Although the women are vaguely aware of William and his troubled companion they continue in conversation, their words tumbling over each other. They recite lists of name and shopping lists as they exemplify the mundanity of life.
Finally a young man and woman in their ‘prime of youth’ appear. They are clearly courting, and appear to be in the first flush of love. Although neither of them seem quite sure what to do next, their is an excitement as after their hands touch on the parasol they decide to go for tea.
The narrative is somewhat dreamy in style and creates the feeling of laziness one has when it is too hot to do anything but wander slowly. All of the senses are engaged, the colours of the red and blue petals, the stirring of the breeze and the slow movement of a crimson crested bird.
“The petals were voluminous enough to be stirred by the summer breeze, and when they moved, the red, blue and yellow lights passed one over the other, staining an inch of the brown earth beneath with a spot of the most intricate colour”
As the characters make their way through the gardens, each with their own concerns and worries, the snail moves with them. He too is negotiating the obstacles which life puts in his way.
“Brown cliffs with deep green lakes in the hollows, flat, blade like trees that waved from root to tip , round boulders of grey stone, vast crumpled surfaces of a thin crackling textures – all these objects lay across the snails progress between one stalk and another to his goal”
Despite the brevity of this story I was transported to Kew and saw myself moving slowly past the flower beds, with thoughts drifting from the mundane to the fanciful.
This is a very short 40 pages and can be happily enjoyed in it’s entirety with an afternoon cup of tea, preferably in the sunshine, in a garden. For my next reading, I fully intend to take it with me to Kew on a hot day in July.
You may also enjoy The London Scene by Virginia Woolf
