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Beverley Nichols

Born

in Bowre Ashton, Bristol, The United Kingdom

September 09, 1898

Died

September 15, 1983

Website

http://www.timberpress.com/search/Beverley+Nichols

Genre

Home & Garden, Children's Books, Biographies & Memoirs

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John Beverley Nichols (born September 9, 1898 in Bower Ashton, Bristol, died September 15, 1983 in Kingston, London), was an English writer, playwright, actor, novelist and composer. He went to school at Marlborough College, and went to Balliol College, Oxford University, and was President of the Oxford Union and editor of Isis.

Between his first novel, Prelude, published in 1920, and Twilight in 1982, he wrote more than 60 books and plays on topics such as travel, politics, religion, cats, novels, mysteries, and children's stories, authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six plays, and no fewer than six autobiographies.

Nichols is perhaps best remembered as a writer for Woman's Own and for his gardening books John Beverley Nichols (born September 9, 1898 in Bower Ashton, Bristol, died September 15, 1983 in Kingston, London), was an English writer, playwright, actor, novelist and composer. He went to school at Marlborough College, and went to Balliol College, Oxford University, and was President of the Oxford Union and editor of Isis.

Between his first novel, Prelude, published in 1920, and Twilight in 1982, he wrote more than 60 books and plays on topics such as travel, politics, religion, cats, novels, mysteries, and children's stories, authoring six novels, five detective mysteries, four children's stories, six plays, and no fewer than six autobiographies.

Nichols is perhaps best remembered as a writer for Woman's Own and for his gardening books, the first of which Down the Garden Path, was illustrated — as were many of his books — by Rex Whistler. This bestseller — which has had 32 editions and has been in print almost continuously since 1932 — was the first of his trilogy about Allways, his Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton, Cambridgeshire. A later trilogy written between 1951 and 1956 documents his travails renovating Merry Hall (Meadowstream), a Georgian manor house in Agates Lane, Ashtead, Surrey, where Nichols lived from 1946 to 1956. These books often feature his gifted but laconic gardener "Oldfield". Nichols's final trilogy is referred to as "The Sudbrook Trilogy" (1963–1969) and concerns his late 18th-century attached cottage at Ham, (near Richmond), Surrey.

Nichols was a prolific author who wrote on a wide range of topics. He ghostwrote Dame Nellie Melba’s "autobiography" Memories and Melodies (1925), and in 1966 he wrote A Case of Human Bondage about the marriage and divorce of William Somerset Maugham and Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo, which was highly critical of Maugham. Father Figure, which appeared in 1972 and in which he described how he had tried to murder his alcoholic and abusive father, caused a great uproar and several people asked for his prosecution. His autobiographies usually feature Arthur R. Gaskin who was Nichols’ manservant from 1924 until Gaskin's death from cirrhosis in 1966. Nichols made one appearance on film - in 1931 he appeared in Glamour, directed by Seymour Hicks and Harry Hughes, playing the part of the Hon. Richard Wells.

Nichols' long-term partner was Cyril Butcher. He died in 1983 from complications after a fall. ...more

Combine Editions
Beverley Nichols’s books

Average rating: 4.18 · 5,295 ratings · 831 reviews · 98 distinct works • Similar authors

	Down the Garden Path (Allways trilogy, #1) 4.23 avg rating — 945 ratings — published 1931 — 45 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols, William McLaren (Illustrator) 4.19 avg rating — 942 ratings — published 1951 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Laughter on the Stairs 4.35 avg rating — 465 ratings — published 1953 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sunlight on the Lawn by Beverley Nichols, Bryan Connon (Introduction) 4.35 avg rating — 360 ratings — published 1999 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Thatched Roof (Allways trilogy, #2) by Beverley Nichols, Rex Whistler (Illustrator) 4.30 avg rating — 340 ratings — published 1932 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tree That Sat Down (The Magic Woodland Trilogy, #1) 4.17 avg rating — 301 ratings — published 1945 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Village in a Valley (Allways trilogy, #3) by Beverley Nichols, Bryan Connon (Foreword) 4.33 avg rating — 245 ratings — published 1934 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Green Grows the City: The Story of a London Garden 4.31 avg rating — 191 ratings — published 1997 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Stream That Stood Still (The Magic Woodland Trilogy, #2) by Beverley Nichols, Richard Kennedy, Erik Blegvad (Cover Art) 4.25 avg rating — 158 ratings — published 1948 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Garden Open Today 4.15 avg rating — 151 ratings — published 1963 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Beverley Nichols…

Series by Beverley Nichols

Merry Hall Trilogy (3 books)
by

Beverley Nichols,

Bryan Connon (Introduction)

4.26 avg rating — 1,767 ratings

Allways trilogy (3 books)
by

Beverley Nichols,

Bryan Connon (Foreword)

4.26 avg rating — 1,530 ratings

Magic Woodland (4 books)
by

Beverley Nichols,

Peggy Fortnum (Illustrator)

4.19 avg rating — 643 ratings

Horatio Green (5 books)
by

Beverley Nichols

3.59 avg rating — 115 ratings

Quotes by Beverley Nichols (?)

“Let us be honest: most of us rather like our cats to have a streak of wickedness. I should not feel quite easy in the company of any cat that walked around the house with a saintly expression.”
― Beverley Nichols, Cats' A-Z

tags: cats

46 likes

“Long experience has taught me that people who do not like geraniums have something morally unsound about them. Sooner or later you will find them out; you will discover that they drink, or steal books, or speak sharply to cats. Never trust a man or a woman who is not passionately devoted to geraniums.”
― Beverley Nichols, Merry Hall

tags: gardening, gardens, geraniums

30 likes

“A garden without cats, it will be generally agreed, can scarcely deserve to be called a garden at all...much of the magic of the heather beds would vanish if, as we bent over them, there was no chance that we might hear a faint rustle among the blossoms, and find ourselves staring into a pair of sleepy green eyes.”
― Beverley Nichols, Garden Open Tomorrow

tags: cats, garden

21 likes

See all Beverley Nichols's quotes »

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