The Gentle Art of Domesticity
While Penny and I were in Birmingham I bought Jane Brocket's book, The Gentle Art of Domesticity. I glanced through it briefly before buying it, noticed the photos of Birkenstocks, quilts, knitting, and baked goods, and figured it had to be a winner.
It is. I read it the other day and since then have made my children look at most of the pictures and elicited a promise from Joan to make some of the scones and fairy buns. This book is not a "how-to" book. It is simply a beautiful tribute to domesticity, comfort, hearth and home, and an encouragement to find one's own way of enjoying the "gentle arts."
My favorite part of the book: Ms. Brocket's list of books and movies that celebrate domesticity. Here are a few to pique your interest and coax you into buying a copy of the book to enjoy!
Books
Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
(I list these particular books because I have read them and enjoyed their particular views of domesticity, but she mentions many more I have not read or even heard of.)
Movies
I Capture the Castle (2003)
Houseboat (1958)
Little Women (1949)
The Sound of Music (1965)
(This list of movies is not exhaustive either - she recommends many more, some new and some old classics.)
And I did not even mention the art and paintings she includes and explains... .
It really is a book worth owning. Even Penny, who never does any "impulse buying," read a few pages in our hotel room and immediately ordered a copy for herself from Amazon. So get one and enjoy it!
posted by Laura at
3:22 PM
7 Comments:
This sounds lovely! Thanks for the recommendation.
Sounds like a lovely book; I'd love to hear what some of the movies are!
I just ordered it, but I'm going to give it to the kids to give me for Christmas. (Is that wrong?) :-)
Yes, I want to see the list, too. Could you reproduce some of it for us, or is that unethical?
That does sound lovely. Thanks for posting.
Okay, I've added a few of the movie and book titles. But you'll have to get the book to see the rest of them!
OK, I want to at least look at this book the next time I visit the bookstore.
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