Orwell’s Roses

Rebecca Solnit, Granta Books, £9.99

Think George Orwell and you immediately skip to 1984 and dystopian social science.

Well it’s time to think again with Solnit’s beautifully crafted biography’ Orwell’s Roses.

In 1936 Orwell,, planted roses at his cottage in Hertfordshire; roses that Solnit goes in search of to find a different side of the novelist, a man in touch with the natural world and in love with gardening.

With a gorgeous cover, this one’s a keeper.