Beautiful, colourful, inspiring photographs, but I found the text a bit flat and vague and so kept skimming through it to look at the next set of photos. It’s less a book of advice than Stanton’s portfolio, which is fine, but anyone looking for practical tips and advice will probably be disappointed.
Jane Brocket’s idea of domesticity is a lot like my own: making, baking, reading, gardening and looking for the beauty in everyday objects and happenings.
I first read this book not long after it was published in 2007 and was both thrilled and depressed to discover there was someone out there living the kind of life I wanted to lead while I was still so bogged down with child care. The idea of having time to pursue my own interests seemed a long way off – and it was – but the kids are grown now and it’s my time to fool around with yarn and experiment with recipes and take a ridiculous number of photos and read as many books as possible.
This is not a how-to book, although it does contain a few recipes. I’d call it inspirational or aspirational, perhaps, because Brocket has a great eye for colour and composition and, it seems, the budget for very high quality materials. Highly recommended for anyone interested in pursuing a creative life.