Austin Chapter
Reader's Guide

October 2007

Four Tenths of an Acre: Reflections on a Gardening Life
Laurie Lisle

1. How many years of Laurie Lisle's life does this memoir cover? When you think about the answer to this question, are you surprised? How does Laurie manage the passing of time?

2. The writer of the book's jacket copy (probably somebody in the marketing department at Random House) remarks that the book explores the "fascinating connections among one's interior landscape, village life, and the natural world." What were some of the connections you noted as you read the book?

3. On p. 31, Laurie describes her earliest memories of a garden. Did your mother garden? What are your earliest memories of gardening?

4. Laurie writes (p. 69): "To stay in a place for a long time, it may be necessary to ignore some things and to make others invisible . . . " What's she talking about here? What has she had to learn to ignore, to overlook? Do you think her statement is true or untrue? Have you had to make similar compromises in your own life?

5. On p. 75, Laurie says, "I wanted my garden to be itself, and I was getting closer to discovering what that meant." What do you think that means? What does this have to do with Laurie's own interior landscape?

6. Laurie's house, the "Mow House," is an historic house in a town that dates back to Colonial times. She understands, she writes (p 83) "why a historic house is a presence more important than the person who happens to own it." Would you like to live in a house with a history, in a town that values this?

7. In 2005, we read a book called Already Home: A Topography of Spirit and Place, by Barbara Gates. Both books are on essentially the same topic: what it's like to live deeply, consciously, in a place. How is Already Home different from Four Tenths of an Acre? Which did you like best?

8. During the time covered by this memoir, Laurie has two marriages. How are these relationships related to her garden? Where is she living now? When you learn this, does it change the way you feel about her garden?

See Laurie Lisle's website.

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