logo-cropped

Nottingham’s independent bookshop | 14a Long Row, Nottingham NG1 2DH | 0115 8373097

Q is for Garden : Tending the Histories of Queer Cultivation

Jenny Chamarette
Format: Hardback
Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781526197337
368 pages, 2 black & white illustrations
Country of publication: United Kingdom

£18.99

A bold, tender exploration of how queerness and nature entwine – and what happens when we step beyond the binaries that fence us in.

‘A beautiful companion through difficult times.’ – Octavia Bright
‘Passionate and expansive.’ – Tanya Shadrick
‘Reading this book has given me hope.’ – Nancy Campbell

There is a Q in garden, but you can’t always see it…

When Jenny Chamarette faced a devastating health crisis, they found themselves unmoored from the rules of gender, sexuality and productivity. In a small South London garden, Jenny began to imagine another way of living: porous, unruly, rooted in the lessons of soil and plant life. Gardens, like identities, are usually bounded – but what if those limits can be re-drawn?

Blending memoir and cultural criticism, this book asks whether the categories we inherit – colonial, patriarchal, conventions of sexuality and gender – still serve us, or whether they confine us. From illness and recovery to queer love and ecological wonder, Q is for Garden invites readers to reimagine how we inhabit land, culture and each other.

An eloquent work of nature writing and queer thought, Q is for Garden digs into the rich history of queer gardeners, botanists, artists and agriculturalists. It offers a hopeful vision of belonging, if we are curious enough to unearth it.

Postage is calculated at 10% of your order value, minimum £1.00, up to a maximum of £3.00. There is a free postage option at checkout if you are housebound/shielding, on low income, or need help with postage costs for any other reason.  Your order will usually arrive within 2-3 working days.