The Queen's English.

One of the books I found a while back in the thrift shop was a brand new re-issue copy of "Down the Garden Path," by Beverley Nichols. I had never heard of that author before, and had never seen the book, but the dust-jacket is what caught my eye. In this case, it was indeed a judgment of the book by its cover. I've come to learn that Mr. Nichols' books, the ones written in the 1930s, have almost never been out of print.

The illustration on this dust-jacket is of a small cottage surrounded by lush gardens, with each separate garden set out for a different purpose (kitchen herbs, fruit orchard, contemplation, etc.) Turns out that "Down the Garden Path" is the first book of a trilogy written by Mr. Nichols.... and the little cottage pictured on that cover is his own English cottage in the British countryside.

I looked up Beverley Nichols on the Internet.... he was quite a prolific writer, and besides the books on his cottage and its gardens, he wrote about his cats, his friends, his lifestyle, his life. He was sort of a Gatsby-esque character who knew a lot of famous people in the arts (music and literature).

I started reading Down The Garden Path yesterday, and it's a beautiful book, full of useful gardening information and sprinkled with his wonderful sense of whimsy and humor. (Not really a gardening book, but a life book, a diary of sorts, about his property and his English village.) This isn't the first time I've been surprised by an English author. I've decided that British books are so appealing because their use of the English language is exact, precise, charming, and (most of all) correct. This book is a joy to read, and there are beautiful illustrations here and there. I've already searched out the other two volumes in his "cottage" trilogy, and I also ordered one of his cat books (how could I resist, especially since one of the cats on the dust-jacket looks like Mickey Kitty).

Some of the best books that I own have come from the most surprising places...... thrift stores, antique shops, yard sales and the for-sale shelves in libraries. And the best of the best books I have on my shelves-- the vintage books, written anywhere from 1900 through 1950. For some reason or other, the older a book is, and the more it's been read over the years, the better it feels in your hands as you read it and make it your own.