Love from Kew

“I adore this book, which captures the magic of Kew and tells the stories of people who share my true love for the Gardens.” – Dame Judi Dench“A gem of a book, combining a love of Kew Gardens with slices of everyday life, tied together with a ribbon of poetic storytelling. I loved it.” – Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring“Postcards were the social media of Victorian and pre-digital Britain. Short messages penned at the time show how Britain’s premier garden lifted spirits and calmed anxieties during those often rare occasions when ordinary people were able to escape the daily job or relentless domestic duties. Kew remains an oasis of tranquility in an increasingly frantic world.” – Frances Pryor, archaeologist and author“Sophie’s rich and often wonderfully unexpected imagery makes this a delightful way to learn more about the Gardens’ history.” – Lisa Woollett, author and photographer“Shillito adds in details of Kew’s history as well as some imaginings sparked by the pictures themselves to give us a book that is both charming and a reminder of the key role green spaces—and our access to them—play in our daily life.” * Gardens Illustrated *

Sophie Shillito writes about place, palimpsests, and micro-histories. Her first book, All The Little Places (Blue Mark Books, 2020) is a haunting poetic-prose tapestry of fairytale fragments. Sophie lives in London. She likes mudlarking and mountains.