Siri Hustvedt:
(born February 19, 1955)
American novelist and essayist. Hustvedt is the author of a book of poetry, seven novels, two books of essays, and several works of non-fiction. Her books include The Blindfold (1992), The Enchantment of Lily Dahl (1996), What I Loved (2003), for which she is best known, A Plea for Eros (2006), The Sorrows of an American (2008), The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves (2010), The Summer Without Men (2011), Living, Thinking, Looking (2012), The Blazing World (2014), Memories of the Future (2019), and Ghost Stories (2026). What I Loved and The Summer Without Men were international bestsellers. Her work has been translated into over thirty languages.
I love the little garden in the back of my family’s brownstone in Brooklyn. Digging out there in the dirt is a joy for me. Although by the time August rolls around and my roses have black spot, I need the break winter provides.
– The speaker ‘loves gardening’ in the small backyard garden of her family’s Brooklyn brownstone.
– Working with soil—“digging out there in the dirt”—is described as ‘deeply pleasurable and restorative’.
– But by late summer, gardening becomes tiring or frustrating because the roses develop ‘black spot’, a common fungal disease that causes dark spots on rose leaves.
– So, even though she loves the garden, she also welcomes winter as a ‘necessary pause or rest’ from the work and problems of gardening.
In short:
‘Gardening brings joy, but it also has seasonal frustrations; winter offers relief and renewal.’
Origin / Author đź“š:
This is ‘not a traditional proverb or old saying’. It appears to be a ‘personal statement’ attributed to Siri Hustvedt, the American novelist and essayist who has long lived in Brooklyn.
The wording and details—“my family’s brownstone in Brooklyn,” roses, black spot, and winter as a break—fit Hustvedt’s biographical context, and the quote is commonly circulated as hers.
About Siri Hustvedt ✍️:
– Siri Hustvedt is an American writer, born in 1955.
– She is known for novels such as “What I Loved” and “The Blazing World”.
– She was married to writer Paul Auster, and they lived in Brooklyn.
– Her work often blends fiction, philosophy, psychology, art, and embodied experience.
Note on Source 🔎:
I would treat this as an ‘interview or personal-profile quote by Siri Hustvedt’, rather than a literary quotation from one of her novels.
