Great questions! Her books (and associated paraphernalia) certainly speak to nature enthusiasts, especially women, and they are also a different kind of response to “nature” than the kind of discourses that emerged during the environmental movement of the 1970s. For the most part, I’ve been contextualizing her works in the historical moment in which they were produced (1905-6), but your comment has made me think about how the publication and reception histories are also deeply tied to a particular historical zeitgeist. Sarah Edwards has published more about the women readers of the books. If you’re interested, the article can be found here: https://pure.strath.ac.uk/portal/files/249818/strathprints005489.pdf

Thank you for your kind comments!

Quite recently I reviewed a book about literacy and education in which the writer refers to the ‘garden becoming a text’. The statement has remained in my mind as something that intrigues. There is perhaps something about how the garden becomes a space to share ideas, to generate and agree plans, to inscribe memories and create new ones – to leave a trace and a record.

Az
http://azumahcarol.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/national-researchcentre-improving-adult.html

Speaking of, do you see any connection between the “rediscovery” of Holden’s work and the prevailing forms of environmentalism in the 1970s? Did the reinterpretation of Holden’s work in the book and the miniseries speak to nature enthusiasts, especially women, who felt “left out” of the emerging environmental movements?