The Gardener

Description

'Under the bracken, under the soil, under the forest, under the water, the garden's history is there. It needs an ardent lover to find it.' Lotte is in unfamiliar territory. After a divorce and a great deal of soul-searching, she has abandoned her successful career as an architect for a degree in garden history, and uprooted her three children to take a job as head gardener to millionaire Brody Keegan at Maddon Park in Oxfordshire. Brody is as ignorant about gardens as Lotte is knowledgeable, his tastes as loud as hers are quiet. They have little in common except a passion for Maddon Park and a determination to get their own way. As Lotte locks horns with her boss and his spoilt young wife, she finds herself on an emotional roller coaster. She knows what is right for the garden, but - still raw from divorce, anxious about the children and frightened of entanglement - she is less sure of what is right for her.

As a cook, restaurateur, food writer and business woman, Prue Leith has played a key role in the revolution of Britain's eating habits since the 1960s. She is a judge on Channel 4's Great British Bake Off. She is the author of many cookery books as well as several novels and an autobiography, recently updated and reissued under the title Let Me Eat Cake. All Prue's fiction and her memoir are in print with Quercus. She is married to John Playfair and lives in Oxfordshre. Follow her on on Twitter @PrueLeith

'Prue Leith writes about gardens with a knowledge born of real love for the subject. Those who enjoy gardening and romance will find it the ideal novel to take on holiday' Elizabeth Jane Howard. * Elizabeth Jane Howard * 'This is an engaging and well-crafted tale' Sue MacGregor. * Sue MacGregor *