You Should Have Been Here Last Week – Tim Richardson
If ever there was a gardening book to be carried in the glove compartment, to be permanently in the handbag, to always find a place in your holiday luggage, to be at the bedside, the bath side or even to sit beside the throne it is Tim Richardson’s “You Should Have Been Here Last Week”. I never return to read a book a second time – yes, I refer back to certain books again and again but never a cover to cover read – but this is one I have read again and enjoyed it all the more on the second reading. It was published in hardback and has recently been released in paperback, an indication of its popularity.
Tim Richardson is an opinionated writer, a critical writer, an acerbic writer, a contentious writer but, and it is this which raises his writings above mere snide or sarcastic comment, he is a deeply informed, educated, honest and thoughtful writer and, very importantly to the reader, he is wonderfully entertaining. The articles are short, a collection of short articles previously published, mainly in The Garden Design Journal, the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times, and are ideal for a short read here and there – the doctor’s waiting room, the bus stop and the like – but one article is invariably never enough and one finds oneself reading on and on, still giggling or thinking of previous articles. They are best enjoyed in small portions but who stops after just one chocolate liqueur!
[You Should Have Been Here Last Week – Sharp Cuttings From A Garden Writer, Tim Ricardson, Pimpernel Press, London, 2018, Paperback, 203 pages, £9.99, ISBN: 978-1-910258-86-6]
Paddy Tobin
