The Paper Garden cover art

The Paper Garden

An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Paper Garden

By: Molly Peacock
Narrated by: Jill Tanner
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £20.99

Buy Now for £20.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

In The Paper Garden, celebrated poet Molly Peacock explores the remarkable life of 18th-century British gentlewoman-turned-artist Mary Delany. In the 1770s, at the age of 72, the twice-widowed and nearly broke Delany turned her interest in botany into beautiful paper “mosaick” flowers still revered today.

©2010 Molly Peacock (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC
Art Historical Women
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Louisa May Alcott cover art
Her Brilliant Career cover art
Look at the Harlequins! cover art
Shaggy Muses cover art
Inheritance from Mother cover art
House of Dreams cover art
Not the Whole Story cover art
Daughters of Britannia cover art
The Bronte Cabinet cover art
Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller, and Countrywoman cover art
Spinster cover art
The Housekeeper's Tale cover art
The Quest for Queen Mary cover art
Bunny Mellon cover art
The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters cover art
The Victoria Letters: The Official Companion to the ITV Victoria Series cover art

Critic reviews

"[N]ot only an introduction to a unique artist, but also a whole bouquet of thoughts and observations about the flow of life.” ( Washington Post)

What listeners say about The Paper Garden

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gorgeous Language & Inspirational

This was an absolute joy to listen to. It’s beautifully written and the subject fascinating. The narrator does a wonderful job. She might be my favourite female audiobook reader.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting story, great narrator

I enjoyed listening to Mary's and Molly's stories, highly appreciated the narrator's voice and reading style and got very curious about the collages, which then made me also buy the printed version of the book. I feel this is one of those books that one would want to touch.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Mills and Boon bonkbuster - lite

I purchased this audio book expecting a well crafted, historical biography about Mrs Delaney.

For such a fascinating woman with an incredible story, I would have thought that having her as source material would more than fill a book, with no need for padding or superfluous additions.

Unfortunately the author clearly didn't feel the same, and has instead padded out Mrs Delaney's story with the author's own autobiography.

Whilst I see how the author might feel that her life mirrors that of Mrs Delaney, weaving your own story into that of another feels a tad presumptive. Having re-read the blurb about the book I see now that it does state that the author has included her own autobiography, but the additional 'content' does feel like it waters down the historical content.

Equally, why it was necessary to include salacious Mills and Boon bodice-ripper style imaginings of Mrs Delaney's sex life is beyond me. Again it's unnecessary and also disrespectful to the memory of the subject, not to mention the intellect of the listener.

The three stars I've given for the review are purely for the biographical bits of Mrs Delaney's life and artistry. Without all the 'padding' it would have most definitely been 5 stars.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!