A Garden of Her Own….
Depression seizes me when I reflect upon the probable difference between the idea and its realisation. (p.49)
Before Virginia Woolf and her room, there was Elizabeth van Arnim and her German garden.
While this book did not honestly arrest my attention the entire way through, I still enjoyed parts of it. Elizabeth’s voice and writing is hilarious, while being simultaneously tragic (as seems to be the inevitable plight of the Victorian woman).
This non-fiction novella depicts the days of a woman who for the love of god needs something other than her husband and children to fulfil her. It is the ultimate story of a woman who is trying her hardest to go beyond the mere monikers of “wife” and “mother”. She wants hobbies; interests. She needs to create, cultivate and have a space she can call her own. Rather than retreating into the home, which for her represents domesticity and therefore a prison, she finds her refuge outside. A place where she can build her castles in the air. And while I did spend an inordinate amount of time googling various flowers and bushes just so I could get a sense of what this garden looked like, I eventually realised this was not that important. It was more about what the space signified to her. It was a feminine space, yet not one that was burdened with a sense of duty or obligation. No one was making her do this or plant that. The only time the male urge to fix women intruded into the garden was with the incompetent gardener who went against her wishes. As she laments, “I wish with all my heart I were a man, for of course the first thing I should do would be to buy a spade and go and garden… It is dull work giving orders and trying to describe the vision of one’s brain to a person who has no visions and no brain…” (p. 49)
The garden also serves as a space of catharsis as she works through her sense of otherness. Australian born and originally named Mary Annette Beauchamp, she spent time in her father’s native England before eventually marrying a German aristocrat and moving to Prussia. Although she is fluent in German and seems to almost identify as German, she does not fit in with the Real Housewives of Victorian Prussia, and does not understand why they want nothing more than hearth and home. She does not value “feminine” characteristics such as being delicate or dependent, which already sets her apart from what is considered the standard in high society. She also feels a stranger to her own family at times, and seems to only feel at home alone.
However, her sturdy flowers that are able to grow and bloom in this environment remind her that it is possible. If they can do it, so can she.
Elizabeth reminded me so often of myself at times, which was quite unexpected. First and foremost, I love to be alone and her stance on longtime visitors as unwelcomed inflictions caused me to snort with laughter. I do not have a garden, I am not married to A Man of Wrath (fantastic characterisation by the way…. his name is wildly unimportant), I like my life and I have no inclination to go buy soil and begin Bryanna’s City Balcony. But I do feel duty snarling at the door (p. 48) and convince myself that if I am not tending to those duties, I am wasting time and space. However, instead of spending my time in my garden, I spend it with books. And book clubs. I guess books are my flowers and book club is my garden.
What were your thoughts while reading this one? Did you enjoy it? Some things to think about:
Class- Elizabeth is quite privileged in the sense that she has the opportunity to have this garden and second home all for herself. She and her husband, he -who -shall -not be -named, have an interesting talk about class difference in pages 38-42. They talk about day labourers from Russia and Poland. Her stance towards them was a bit… noooot great. While she has sympathy towards them, especially the women who are beaten by their husbands (and deserve it, according to hers), she talks about them in a way that only the truly rich can.
What about the characters of Minora and Irais? Minora struck me as a rather interesting character, and a bit of fresh air to the “plot” in general. And I always love a girl who writes books and isn’t respectable (p.55) Not to mention the banter between the three women made me long to be part of that fireside chat. And Irais was one of the funniest characters I’ve read in a while.
Why do these two women get names but Elizabeth’s family does not?
I loved her various musings on life, family, marriage and how to be independent. She has so many quips and clever lines, and I especially liked her diatribe on suffering. As she says, we are meant to be happy, and if your lot in life is making you miserable, change it. While there is a ring of truth to that, it also had a hint of Eat, Pray, Love to me. It’s all well and good that you, as someone with money, can go out and find your garden. But not everybody can. Choice and free will are all well and good when you have money. And yes, she was a woman, therefore limited. But not as limited as others, as evidenced by the existence of this book. There was a bit of disconnect with reality. But maybe I’m just being nitpicky.
Miss Jones speech on pages 62-63 was probably was of the most real things I’ve ever read. And she gets fired for it? I mean obviously I understand, I just wonder why Elizabeth chose to put it in….
I hope you enjoyed this, and maybe even are asking yourself what your garden is. And if you don’t have one, I hope you find it.
Happy Reading,
Bryanna