Overview

In 1772, upon the death of her second husband, Mary Delany arose from her grief, picked up a pair of scissors, and, at the age of seventy-two, created a new art form: mixed-media collage. Over the next decade, Mrs. Delany produced an astonishing 985 botanically correct, breathtaking cut-paper flowers, now housed in the British Museum and referred to as the Flora Delanica. As she tracks the extraordinary life of Delany-friend of George Frideric Handel and Jonathan Swift-internationally acclaimed poet Molly Peacock weaves in delicate parallels in her own life and, in doing so, creates a profound and beautiful examination of the nature of creativity and art. This gorgeously designed book, featuring thirty-five full-color illustrations, is to be devoured as voraciously as one of the court dinners it describes.

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9781608196975

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Reviews

"[A] graceful meditation on botany, nature, life and age...Delaney's story abounds with energy as Peacock brings her alive. Like her glorious multilayered collages, Delany is so vivid a character she almost jumps from the page.""-New York Times Book Review New York Times Book Review A beautifully designed, eye-catching book...[The Paper Garden] is a celebration of second chances and the possibility -so attractive to those of a certain age - of an unexpected blossoming late in life... Washington Post This book layers Delany's life and work over Peacock's. It is organized by flower - forget-me-not, thistle, poppy, etc., each a metaphor for a different phase in Delany's life...the book itself is a complicated, delicate and beautiful collage. Los Angeles Times Possessed of a discerning eye, Peacock...lavishes attention on Mary's life, both social and artistic, drenching us in vivid, sensory language as if we were adrift in champagne. Cleveland Plain Dealer Physically beautiful and emotionally transporting... To call The Paper Garden a biography is to sell it short...a sumptuous bounty of gorgeous words, striking mosaics and a spirit of joy. Chicago Tribune"

<p> The volume itself is a craft object, sumptuously presented and designed, on fine paper, with colophons and decorations, and full-page colour reproductions. . . . The Paper Garden will be everyone's favourite Christmas present this year. <br> -- Victoria Glendinning, The Globe and Mail<br> <br> Like collage itself, The Paper Garden is carefully layered--part fascinating biography . . . part gripping memoir, . . . accompanied by dozens of vivid photo reproductions. Beautifully written and rendered. <br> -- Maclean's <br>Complementing her research, Peacock's prose is a delight. . . . A fascinating, uplifting and beautiful book. <br> -- Claire Holden Rothman, The Gazette (Montreal) <br> Rich and poetic. . . . Teeming with life -- and gorgeous colour illustrations. <br> -- Winnipeg Free Press <br> The perfect gift for the hardcore book lover [The Paper Garden is] more than a beautiful glimpse at Delany's very interesting life . . . a considered and shared contempla

Author Information

Molly Peacock is the award-winning author of five volumes of poetry, including The Second Blush, and a memoir, Paradise, Piece by Piece. Her poems have appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, and the Times Literary Supplement. A transplanted New Yorker, she lives in Toronto.

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