If you liked The Hare With Amber Eyes

Memoir, history, charming characters, muttering spouses, committed horticulturalists, obsessive collectors, genteel experts, quirky watercolor illustrations all together make a delightful summer read. Having known an obsessive rose collector in my childhood adds to the fun.

Chasing the Rose: An Adventure in the Venetian Countryside, by Andrea di Robilant; illustrated by Nina Fuga. Knopf 2014.


Di Robilant’s is a unique exploration of how human history often leaves its imprint in the most unexpected of places.

A quiet country pleasure.--Kirkus Reviews

Publisher's media info

Empress Josephine was so mad for roses that she persuaded Napoleon to let a British gardener pass through his naval blockade.--Wall Street Journal

 

  

If you still have not read The Hare With Amber Eyes, by Edmund de Waal, I highly recommend it. Slow-going and worth every minute in gaining a new understanding of art history, Europe in the 20th Century, anti-Semitism, attention to detail, and memoir-writing. You will think of it often years later.

And don't forget The World is a Carpet, by Anna Badkhen. It will return to mind, too.

© 2014 Nancy L. Ruder