Sunlight on the Lawn

This book is like Canada Dry Ginger Ale- dry, crisp, and refreshing. Beverley Nichols was a very arch and witty writer! A combination of Jerome K. Jerome and May Sarton. This book is about his cats, his friends, and his garden. There are some very funny parts and some very sad parts. Some are almost too sad to read, but that is the way it usually is with excellent books like this.

Having read Trilogy1 and 2 of this series, I just had to get the third. It did not disappoint at all. A continuance of Beverley Nichols life with his beloved garden, and lifes ups and downs.Recommended reading.

Beverley Nichols had a rare talent. His writing is witty and humane and perfect for relieving the stress of life lived in the modern world. When you read this book you will be saddened that only two others of his sixty odd minor masterpieces are still in print. Buy this book if you love gardens, or old houses or simply reading well written stories, some of which are laugh out loud funny. Beverley Nichols writes like Oscar Wilde, except his subject is gardening and old houses and the curious people who dwell in them.

Some readers of Beverly Nichol's books have found his writing hilarious, but I do not. I find him amusing, and have read the trilogy plus his GREEN GROWS THE CITY because they sustained my interest, but he is not P.G. Wodehouse or John Mortimer for that matter. I cannot judge from Nichols books whether or not he had a particularly deep understanding of human nature. From time to time, he allowed himself to be drawn into odd misadventures with eccentric others, and he certainly had his conflicts with busy-body females, and as often as not he had charming female friends. His best friend in the world seemed to be Gaskin, his 'man' and his cats. The central theme of MERRY HALL, the first book in his trilogy, is the restoration of the grounds and gardens at his old Georgian Estate. LAUGHTER ON THE STAIRS covered the renovation of Merry Hall--the Georgian Manor house. His third book, SUNLIGHT ON THE LAWN, has people as it's focus--those who inhabited the area in and around Merry Hall when Nichols lived there in the late forties and fifties. First, there is the sad departure of Oldfield whose gardening days come to an abrupt end. Then, there are various episodes involving the ever meddling Rose, tea with Miss Mint, fractious neighbors, overgrown fields, and wells without water. As always, in a book by Beverly Nichols, there are cats. Nichols had a great love of black cats, and the cats often play a role in one of his tales. Most of the time the story is funny, but sometimes a cat meets a sad end. If you are a cat fancier, you may find his cat exploits familiar and amusing. This is a nice book for bedtime reading and a fitting end to the series.

This is the third book in the Merry Hall trilogy; a hilarious series of books written by a "proper" British gentleman about the trials and tribulations of finding, remodelling and decorating his home and garden. The books are heaps of fun, filled with his beloved flowers and cats, as well as, rival gardeners and nosy neighbors (if looks could kill! ). Altough his trilogy is chiefly known for its superb humor, it often astounds with deep insight into human nature, and many a times it tugs at the heart strings (I ended up shedding a few tears over each book). I read "Merry Hall" (my 1st Beverly Nichols book) about a year ago, after which I was compelled to read all of his works (which in most cases meant searching for out of print books). I highly recommend the entire trilogy to anyone who wants to laugh.