Dominique Browning

from the forward:
The gardens on these pages usually lie behind high walls, or at the end of long and forbidding drives past locked gates; they are places to which only the privileged few are invited.

Yup. These gardens are so extreme - they scream money - in setting, construction and maintenance, that they are far beyond envy. All I could see in my mind's eye is the army of grieviously underpaid mexican workers these represent. These spaces are designed for bragging, not for enjoying in any show more meaningful way - even by the owners. The presence of people would mar the perfection.

Actually the author and some of the designers red-facedly admit as much in section 5. Section 5 and 6 seem to change the tone of the book, and I will revise these notes when I get that far. show less

The editor-in-chief of House & Garden magazine, Browning was blindsided when the magazine folded. All of a sudden, the job and life that had defined her for over a decade didn't exist and she was left wondering what to do with herself. She carefully details her different strategies as she come to terms with her new life. And while her sacrifices aren't nearly as drastic as those that some people who have lost their jobs have had to make, they were no less painful and hard for her to make for show more all that. And she has beautifully captured the nuances of feeling, the treading water, and the eventual courage to let go that often accompany the loss of identity that so many in the business world experience when their jobs disappear.

A slow, contemplative read, the pace allows the reader to really consider much of what Browning was discovering for herself. It is very well-written and sprinkled with humor. There are moments where it is hard to find sympathy for Browning: having to sell one of her two homes and continually returning to a married (but legally separated) lover who is clearly using her but to whom she is too addicted to break free. But her honesty and introspection and the very real feelings that she faces at things like the loss of her carefully and lovingly tended garden are among the things that counterbalance these other factors. Slowing down and fully experiencing even the small things in the world around you is always good advice, whether it is given by a woman spending yet another day in her jammies or by a woman once she's come through the other side of the experience and learned to embrace a new life and a new identity. show less

My expectation for this book was a little misguided. I was unprepared for the idea that a woman so smart, independent, and successful, could be stuck in the muck and mire of a hopelessly doomed love affair with a married man (albeit legally separated) for so many years. He has no intention of changing the status quo and all her friends and family can clearly see this even though she cannot. I very much enjoyed her small epiphanies about life and change and starting over but she couldn't seem show more to come to any real epiphanies (at least ones that stuck) when it came to "Stroller". Stroller is the name she uses for him throughout the book (at his suggestion) because he "strolls" in and out of her life with such ease. I came to be very annoyed every time he strolled back into the picture. By the end of the book she is finally declaring she is over him yet I have my doubts. I hope so though as she seems so happy and at peace. show less

I read this book because memoirs interest me, and because I was also interested in how the author pulled herself through her job loss and came out intact on the other side. And it was about that. Right off the bat, though, I was annoyed. I mean, it was hard to feel sympathy for her (and was resenting that I already was) for her “having to” sell her house due to financial concerns, because you find out that she actually has TWO houses, one in Rhode Island that was recently rebuilt and has show more been patiently waiting for her all along. She doesn’t make it explicitly clear, but it seems as if that house is paid for, since she mentions the phrase "debt-free" more than once. It was also hard to find any sympathy for her worries about her love life (I mean come on, couples counseling with your married-to-someone-else boyfriend? Puh-lease). The most important lesson I learned from this book is this: as a writer, it is important to make your main character, well…LIKEABLE. (Of course, this book is published already; mine is still in longhand in a couple of notebooks). show less