New York-based interior designer Bunny Williams chronicled her passion for houses and gardens in her two previous books, An Affair with a House and Love Affairs with Houses. Now she has written a love story about her Connecticut gardens in her new book, Bunny Williams: Life in the Garden. Her voice is clear and strong as she recounts the occasional challenges and ultimate successes of the last 40 years developing her garden rooms—sunken, parterre, woodland, and more.
Williams shares personal stories of growing up and her immersion into the homes and gardens of her family and their friends, which influenced her passion for both. She tells tales of her travels to some of the most revered gardens and reveals their influence on her personal decisions.
It’s both painful and delightful when she recounts placement gone wrong—a trial that every gardener knows—and the resulting “fix” that sets everything right. Still, the book is not how-to and a simple recounting of plantings. Life in the Garden is filled with personal stories of the joy Williams has shared on the property with her husband, John Rosselli, their family, and dogs.
Williams’s first book, An Affair with a House, is equally personal and engaging, but Life in the Garden feels a bit more vulnerable and intimate, which only increases its appeal. You’ll find it a welcome companion if you are in search of garden inspiration, a good read or a glimpse of graceful adjustment (with grit) when you realize you’ve miscalculated sunlight or soil.