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The Unusual Life Of Edna Walling by Sara Hardy

by
June–July 2005, no. 272

The Unusual Life Of Edna Walling by Sara Hardy

Allen & Unwin, $29.95 pb, 304 pp, 1 74114 229 6

The Unusual Life Of Edna Walling by Sara Hardy

by
June–July 2005, no. 272

Much has been written on Edna Walling’s gardens, first by herself, later by garden historians, although no detailed account of her early career has been attempted, and less still is generally known of her private life. With a play on Walling to her credit (1987), Sara Hardy presents an account of her private life (1895–1973) and of her early career.

Of her childhood in Plymouth, Walling wrote that her father brought her up as a boy, fostering masculine skills; although a poor student, she demonstrated an aptitude for geometry. (Her elder sister seems to have garnered all the conventional feminine accomplishments.) While convalescing after pneumonia, Walling went with her father for long walks on Dartmoor; there he encouraged a sense of perspective. She began to appreciate the colours of nature, the shapes of stones, and the mystery that a landscape could emanate.


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Paul de Serville reviews 'The Unusual Life Of Edna Walling' Sara Hardy

The Unusual Life Of Edna Walling

by Sara Hardy

Allen & Unwin, $29.95 pb, 304 pp, 1 74114 229 6

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