2008-06-28 Inspiring, honest and gives hope...

I was very sorry to hear of Monty Don's recent stroke and it was reading a newspaper article which gave some brief history of his life that led me to buy this book.

This book is essentially divided into two parts or themes. One is the story of how Monty and Sarah Don met and built a life together, which included building up a successful business - and how that business went wrong and it's impact on their lives, and the second theme is their love of gardening and the garden they built in their home.

The book will appeal to anyone who wants to know more about Monty Don as a person, and it will also appeal to those who have an interest in gardening. I would not describe it as an instructional gardening book, but more about a personal journey that encompasses the pleasures of gardening.

Having suffered from life events myself which have led to depression, I found reading about Monty's own personal experiences of depression and how he sought recovery, inspiring and hope fulfilling. No doubt much of his ability to fight though the difficult times was through the support and love of his wife Sarah, which becomes very apparent in the book. They do appear to be 'soulmates' if such exist, and I found the cover photo of the book very much a picture into their personalities and relationship. After reading the book, have closer look at the photo, and you will know what I mean.

Highly recommended to anyone who is a Monty Don fan.

(P.S. Monty, if you read this review, I wish you well and know you are a fighter, and I hope you will be back on our TV screens very soon.)