Author(s): Beverley Randell

Literature | Aotearoa New Zealand Non-Fiction | Plants

Katherine Mansfield, the outstanding short story writer, adored the natural world — flowers trees and seasons. This passion shines through her stories, poems and letters.

Mansfield created hundreds of vivid and enduring images:

a clump of toetoe waving in the wind and looking for all the world like a family of little girls drying their hair.

Very large astonished daisies are beginning to flower everywhere …

There was a great cabbage tree growing in the front garden and the shadow it cast on the front door looked like a many-armed monster …

Through its 300+ quotations, Heart of Flame reveals the exuberance and originality of KM’s words, and Jenni Shoesmith’s lively illustrations make it easy to identify the plants she loved so much.

This compilation incorporates a brief history of KM’s all too short life.