The second book in Nichols' accounts of the rescue and renovation of Merry Hall, a rundown Georgian mansion and its garden.
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Laughter on the Stairs
£17.99
In this second volume of the Merry Hall trilogy, Nichols is less concerned with his garden and more with his house, but the story does include the memorable characters Our Rose, the ditzy floral designer and the cantankerous gardener Oldfield.
260 pp, 140 x 205 mm, 44 b/w illus., hardcover
ISBN13 9780881924602
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Media Reviews
Nichols, a prolific writer best known for his gardening books, transforms the large and small happenings of a sleepy British village and country estate into mock high drama, retelling events such as a burglary, a ghost sighting, and home and garden renovations with humor and insight.
[Nichols] the very model of gardening insouciance,... wrote at least once about everything and... is nearly the Bertie Wooster of gardening, and I say nearly only because some would consider it an insult to be called the Bertie Wooster of anything.
You’ll find laughter on the stairs and everywhere else Nichols takes you as he renovates his old home and garden.
A marvelously hilarious insight into people, plants and places... If you have ever renovated an old house or garden, you’ll love these books.
The charm of Merry Hall, Laughter on the Stairs (mostly about the house) and Sunlight on the Lawn is undeniable, a mixture of the lyrical, the teasing, the understatedly witty and the self-mockingly camp.
Be prepared. Beverley Nichols' garden books are part PG Wodehouse and part James Barrie - full of hilarious Jeeves-like characters and events, with moments of Peter Pan magic.
Find a comfortable chair, relax, and enjoy the Nichols' flights of literary fancy but be warned, once started, his books are hard to put down.
The Nichols books are gardening classics; after reading one volume, you will want to read the others, so it would be best to buy all three at the outset.