Orwell's Roses

A reflection on George Orwell’s passionate gardening and the way that his involvement with plants, particularly flowers, and the natural world illuminates his other commitments as a writer and antifascist, and the intertwined politics of nature and power. Sparked by her unexpected encounter with the surviving roses he planted in 1936, Solnit’s account of this understudied aspect of Orwell’s life explores his writing and his actions—from going deep into the coal mines of England, fighting in the Spanish Civil War, critiquing Stalin when much of the international left still supported him (and then critiquing that left), to his analysis of the relationship between lies and authoritarianism. It offers her portrait of a more hopeful Orwell, as well as a reflection on pleasure, beauty, and joy as acts of resistance. (This book may contain a sharpie mark on the top or bottom edge and may show mild signs of shelfwear.)