MRS DELANEY BEGINS HER LIFE’S WORK AT 72
If ever there was a book that epitomised the saying “beauty comes from within” then this has to be it.
Poet Molly Peacock has created an amazing title celebrating the life of a little-known lady called Mary Delany. At the ripe age of seventy-two Delaney discovered her talent for paper cuttings. Her work was so precise that, to this day, botanists still refer to what she called her “collages”. I know what you’re thinking – paper cuttings of flowers hardly shout excitement. But it’s Delaney’s life story that is brilliant.
As a teenager she was married off to an old drunk, at forty-three she remarried to Dr Patrick Delaney, a friend of none other than Jonathan Swift. A quarter of a century later she was widowed again and turned her attention to friendships and creative pursuits. The woman was queen of reinvention long before Madonna was on the scene!
Peacock’s tribute is beautifully designed and a gorgeous addition to any reader’s collection, whether they are green-fingered or not.
The Lady Loves Books 