Trowel and Error

After having listened with delight to the audio version, I ordered the hardback copy, knowing it was precisely the sort of narrative to which I would return. I've read it twice since then. Who can say why? Well, no, it isn't great literature exactly, though the writing is accomplished, and it takes as its subject, moreover, a gardener from England who "made it big," at least in the gardening world, and in the British one; I'd never heard of him. Still, the style is so winning, in that gently self-effacing way of the English, and the portrait so honestly done-with the care and attention and patience it must take to design and grow a garden-that it is now the blueprint I might use, if I ever set my own story in sentences. It is written with two audiences in mind: one, persons who have wondered about the success of this Titchmarsh fellow and are seeking a behind-the-scenes glimpse of his life, and two, everyone who faces or has faced any problem in history or in the future, to which the answer for how to have a full and rewarding life is his answer to Hamlet: "he should have married the girl, moved into the big castle, and got himself a garden." Call me sentimental, or call me an Anglophile (crosses I gladly bear) but I love every minute of it.

A relaxing read, full of the good humour and descriptive prose I'd expect from Alan, along with a fact-filled poke around the hills and vales of his life experiences.I would recommend it highly to fans of his fiction, gardening books, and TV work.... as well as those who are curious if he has always had that marvelous hair and friendly smile (lots of great pictures)!

Reading this was like sitting down to tea and saying to Alan "tell me about yourself" and he does! It was an informative, enjoyable, and funny book. I am sure I will be reading it many more times to come

Like most people I have watched Alan on the TV and not really thought any more about him. I picked up a copy of this book not knowing really what to expect. What can I say? It is a delight that had me laughing, crying and most of all remembering things that I thought I had forgotten from my own childhood and teenage years. Alan covers all the aspects of his life as a child growing up in a small community, through to the successful man he is today. If like me you are of a 'certain age', read this book, I guarantee it will delight you and bring the memories flooding back. Very well written and extremely interesting, Alan definitely has more to him than meets the eye!