Yesterday I spotted this wonderful article by Andrew Marr in The Times (not a newspaper I usually read!)
"Most of us have secret gardens — private territories alongside the ordinary world where we can relax, stretch and refresh. For me, since I can remember, that world has been books in general and novels in particular. In my mid-sixties I find myself tramping back around it, in a different mood, asking awkward questions of the foliage."
The article really chimed with me, and made me smile. I love the idea of the garden as the inner reading space, especially after last week's talk about the garden in children's fiction. Reading has always been where I escape and a place where I find refreshment and soothing, especially when the world around us is so stressful and difficult.
I also find myself drawn to rereading many classic novels. At the moment I'm enjoying Wilkie Collins, especially the novels I haven't previously read. But when I reread a classic novel I am seeing it differently, and will be asking "awkward questions of the foliage"!