Mark Haddon's latest book is all about a nice chap called George Hall who is looking forward to retirement when his life and family starts to fall apart. But forget the plot, the really exciting part of the book is the seldom-seen inclusion in modern literature of a garden office as a key part of the plot (well, perhaps not key, but certainly it's part of the emotional jigsaw puzzle). One of George's plans for retirement is to build a garden studio/office for drawing and painting. Here's a taster:"When George showed her the plans for the studio it reminded her of Jamie’s plans for that machine to catch Santa Claus. But there it was, at the far end of the lawn, foundations laid, five rows of bricks, window frames stacked under blue plastic sheeting."
More details from Mark Haddon's engaging site here.
The only other recent book I can think of which features something similar is Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel in which a shed does indeed play an important role. If you can think of any other fiction in which garden offices/studios/sheds play a part, however small, please add your comments below.
Hiya, good site. Rose Tremain's The Way I Found Her also features a shed - LEwis's dad is back home constructing one while he and his mum are in Paris.
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