SISSINGHURST – An Unfinished History
Adam Nicolson – Harper Press - $59.99

Declaration of interest – I am somewhat obsessed by Sissinghurst, the property, and Vita Sackville-West, grandmother of the author of this new book and founder of the gardens for which the place is now so famous.

Years ago, May 1983 I seem to recall, UK-based NZ-born and educated publisher Kate Griffin, (Profile Books), then with Virago, introduced me to the Bloomsbury Group, and in particular Sissinghurst, Knole, (which we visited), and Vita Sackville-West, and ever since I have been fascinated by the whole subject having read almost every book published, and there have been lots of them!

Since that first visit with Kate I have been back to Sissinghurst at least six times, have seen the gardens in all seasons, and once went there with Penguin Books for the launch of a book by Nigel Nicolson, father of the author of this present book.

Having said all this you will not ne surprised then that I found SISSINGHURST – An Unfinished History absolutely riveting for this is the inside story from a man who lives there, and has done so, on and off, for the past forty five years,

As he says on the first page , “For my entire conscious life it has been what I have thought of as home……..It is the land I have walked over, looked out over, driven through, smoked my first cigarette in, planted my first tree in, bicycled over, slept in and lived in all my life……..”
It was his father Nigel who gave the property to the National Trust having started negotiations 10 days after Vita died in June 1962".

Here is the detail Adam Nicolson provides:

By January 1963, my father had refined his proposal: house and garden to the NT, plus some surrounding farmland, most of the rest sold off to rasie cash with whiuch to endow the property with 15,000 pds and a couple of fields kept for himself. He and “any descendants of mine” would have the right to live there for free. He would act as the Trust’s unpaid manager and have the right to be consulted over any decision affecting Sissinghurst, Any income at Sssinghurst would remain at Sissinghurst. Its coffers would never be drained for general NT purposes – this profoundly valuable clause made at the suggestion of the National Trust itself”.

It was a protracted business that went on for several years but Nigel Nicolson “loved Sissinghurst more than anything else in the world” and it wasn’t until April 1967 that he felt
“ that Sissinghurst will thus be preserved forever”.

This fascinating book is more than just a history of Sissinghurst, it is the story of Adam Nicolson’s goal for the land there to live again, to become the landscape of orchards, cattle, fruit and sheep he remembered from his childhood.
This is a biography of a great property and the story of one man’s inheritance and the steering of it in a new direction
If you are planning a visit to Sissinghurst, something I warmly recommend, do be sure to read Adam Nicolson’s book in advance. It will add much to your time there. You may even find him strolling about the property.
This is a superb book, handsome too, with gorgeous endpapers and a most comprehensive index, always a plus in my book............
Here is my favourite line where the author has been talking about his father's letters and his family of writers stretching over three or four generations - "Sissinghurst floats on a sea of words ".