Vincent's 'millennial' gardening memoir goes to Canongate

Canongate have acquired a “millennial gardening memoir”, Root Bound, from Telegraph journalist Alice Vincent.

Root Bound is a mixture of memoir, history, horticulture and biography, exploring the healing power of plants, and how a whole new generation are discovering the benefits of gardening.

Commissioning editor at Canongate Jo Dingley acquired UK and Commonwealth rights including audio at auction from Rachel Mills at Rachel Mills Literary. Root Bound will be published in Spring 2020. Rights have been sold in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Vincent is gardening columnist and senior arts writer for the Telegraph and founder of the gardening-themed Noughticulture newsletter and the book follows her through a breakup as she “reassesses where her life might go” in the "millennial gardening memoir", as described by Canongate.

“It was at this point that she found gardening, specifically urban gardening, and how bringing a little bit of the outside inside can shift our focus, realign our perspectives and help us find our feet when the world is spinning too fast,” the publisher said.

"Interspersed with stories from the history of horticulture, about famous female botanists, and studies of incredible plants and flowers, Root Bound is hybrid non-fiction at its very best and examines how nature, even in the most urban of settings, can help earth us in this busy modern world."

Dingley says: “I received love letter after love letter from the millennial members of the Canongate staff saying that they felt this book was written for them. So many young people are rediscovering the pleasure of plants and growing things, myself among them, and what Alice does so well is delve into the reasons behind this. We are a generation who never imagined a life anywhere other than behind a desk – how is the lack of connection with the natural world affecting us and how can we tune back in?”

Vincent says: “I’ve always found Canongate’s beautiful books to be thought-provoking and inspiring, and am still so chuffed that Root Bound will be published by such a clever and creative publisher. From the off, Jo has helped to hone my ideas about urban nature and the solace it brings, and I am in no doubt that this book is in safe hands.”