A Love Story (with Cats): Through the Garden

Praise for Through the Garden and Lorna Crozier“Lorna Crozier’s Through the Garden draws us into a rich and intimate portrait of the tender, turbulent lives of two writers who shared a love affair with words, cats, the world, and each other for some 40 years. As Crozier’s husband, writer Patrick Lane, is overtaken by illness and she by grief, this book reminds us that memory, like history, makes us who we are and outruns death. Elegantly written and searingly frank, Through the Garden drills deep into the personal while ranging outward to confront the storms and mysteries of life.” —2020 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction jury (Helen Knott, Sandra Martin, and Ronald Wright)“Emotionally brave and profoundly tender, this book will introduce you to beautifully wrought gardens of poetry, and to two deeply creative individuals who, side by side, flourished in those gardens. A moving and life-affirming reading experience.” —Jane Urquhart, author of The Stone Carvers “This book is a glimpse into forty years of intimacy—what it means to adore, endure, defy, devote, grieve. It is a witnessing of final days—ardent with longing, aching candour, and a powerful tenderness.” —Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces“With feet bare and a heart full of love and longing, Lorna Crozier walks us back to the beginnings of our own fragile bones and back to the place where roots hold us until we become them, until we are the love we planted.” —Gregory Scofield, author of Witness, I am“To read Lorna Crozier’s memoir is to follow two legends of Canadian letters down an enchanted garden path, through the early days of their boozy, Carver-esque romance to the final destination of an endless, timeless love. Overflowing with poetry, wisdom, and cats, this book demands re-reading, for your heart may struggle to hold it all.” —Marjorie Celona, author of How a Woman Becomes a Lake“In Through the Garden, Lorna Crozier lays a path between life’s two great mysteries—love and death. Her gaze is honest and steady, never faltering, whether examining her own heart or looking into the eyes of her dying partner. Out of such bold courage comes a book that is like love—agonizing and joyful, replete with poetry and story, a wellspring of wisdom and truth.” —Merilyn Simonds, author of Refuge “Lorna Crozier gives us the flesh-and-blood thrill of becoming a poet, and then the high romance of finding and losing the poet she loves. Her passionate memoir is unabashed and never less than fascinating.” —Elizabeth Hay, author of All Things Consoled “A work of searing intensity, Through the Garden stands as a testament to poetry, love, and longing. Chronicling her fiery romance with her husband, the poet Patrick Lane, and his subsequent descent into a mysterious illness, Lorna Crozier reminds us that remembering lies at the heart of who we are. This is one of the great love stories of our time.” —Steven Price, author of Lampedusa