Common Ground is Published by Harper Collins Publishers New Zealand. First edition, 2008.
239 pages long.
Common Ground is a New Zealand story of two old school friends who discover they both have a love of gardening and writing. Meeting at a school reunion thirty years after leaving school the two friends begin emailing each other. The stories of their gardening are interwoven with personal stories of their lives. We read about the changing seasons and the challenges the weather brings to each writer’s garden.
Gardening in New Zealand
Children’s Writer Janice Marriott lives in central Wellington and is faced with the challenges of Wellington’s well-known wind, along with clay soil, in her small cottage garden. Virginia Pawsey and her husband run a South Island hill-country farm where she faces the challenges of winter snow and feeding shearers from her garden.
As the writers share the stories of their gardens other aspects of their lives unfold. Virginia talks about mustering and other work on the farm while Janice talks about the day-to-day details of life and work in New Zealand’s capital city.
The Sharing of Friendship
The writing is clear and personal. Reading Common Ground is like getting together with old friends and sharing the ups and downs of life. There are lots of gardening details, with occasional recipes showing how Janice and Virginia use the produce from her gardens. There’s a ‘tongue in cheek’ recipe for “Sauce Verte” which is vegetable stew English monks used to eat. It uses herbs and hyssops and Janice dares Virginia to serve it up for shearers’ lunches. More seriously we are told how to make a simple but beautiful strawberry conserve. There are also recipes for old-fashioned scones and the perfect sponge – recipes long favoured by New Zealand women for afternoon tea or to take out for supper.
Most importantly, this is a book to savour and enjoy. Each piece of correspondence is enhanced by beautiful line drawings of plants, animals and garden paraphernalia. It’s a book to read slowly for pleasure. The reader becomes part of the two women’s friendship. There are sad moments, but it’s the gardens that provide the solace and the stuff of friendship.
A Book for Gardeners who Value Friendship
This book would appeal to gardeners, those who value friendship, and those who would enjoy reading about the diversity in the New Zealand landscape. Janice Marriott is an award-winning children’s author. This is Virginia Pawsey’s first book. This is a lovely inspirational book written by two gardeners who value their friendship.
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