Garden Diary

Emily Lawless (1845-1913) was a novelist and a prominent figure in the political circles of nineteenth-century Ireland. Although her grandfather had been an Irish patriot with United Irishmen sympathies, Lawless herself remained emphatically opposed to Home Rule. Her novels often explored Ireland's troubled past and present: her first success was Hurrish (1886) which was set in Galway during the Land League campaigns and was dedicated to her friend Margaret Oliphant. Although Lawless enjoyed literary success, her personal life was marked by tragedy: her father and two of her sisters committed suicide. Despite her great love for Ireland, Lawless eventually became disillusioned with its politics and moved to England. In this work, Lawless intersperses an account of a year spent tending to her garden in Surrey, with autobiographical and philosophical ruminations.