cover story ...
We all do it. Even though the old adage says not to … judge a book by its cover. Our book club members have been known to conduct long and earnest discussions about what book covers sell, what colour attracts us, how effective the words used on the jacket are.
Well, Fiona Stocker’s new short story - Sissinghurst Day is a case in point. It is a beautiful literary jewel, showcasing a cover that captures part of this world famous garden in Kent, UK. The reader is invited along a stone path, bordered by quintessentially English garden plants, up to a pale blue door. Tantalisingly inviting. Promising me a gentle, enjoyable read.
This short story is written in the first person, and I am intrigued with who the protagonist is. Who is he besides a volunteer? The mystery continues when he says ‘I shouldn’t be here’ and he poses the question as to where Eleanor has gone.
I am invited to continue this journey through beautifully imagined plantings - even though I’m not usually a bit interested in anything botanical!
Hints are slowly unraveled like seeds dropped for the birds (tiny wardens) in the garden.
The reader begins to embrace the calm of the garden that Fiona unfolds, taking refuge in the quiet and deserted place, the garden providing purpose and respite. Just as the reader wonders what the outside world context might be, the gardener refers to the ‘newfangled zoom’, dropping us into contemporary times and building on the character of the gardener. At this point, I am completely connected to this person who is in the garden when he shouldn’t be - a green-thumbed impostor perhaps?
The last two pages of the story continued the intrigue for me - the ambiguity laying bare the gardener’s melancholy.
Just as the story finished, leaving me with questions … Fiona provides a section describing the writing of Sissinghurst Day.
Now, back to our book club - some members love peeking into the author’s world (as I do) and learning about the motivation to write a particular tale. Other members prefer not to know too much about the writer, but to judge the story on its own merits. I loved Fiona’s musings though; (as much as the story she had woven around this famous garden, in such challenging times) they delighted me.
So different to her memoir Apple Island Life, the style is more - well, stylistic. No less charming, this story gives us a glimpse of the more introspective Fiona who misses her homeland.
My favourite piece of the story - ‘this garden which cups joy, beauty and survival in its grasp’ feeds my writerly soul and makes me want to write better.
Even a non-gardener like me loved the story, and the whole package - including the lovely cover - is something I will be purchasing for the people in my life who ARE gardeners.
Find out more about Fiona at www.fionastocker.com