In Olivia Laing’s arresting new “The Silver Book” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), their eighth book and second novel, historical fiction, and much else, is turned on its head. Its historical side is a ...

Olivia Laing knows they will irritate other writers with the story of how their second novel came to be. The Silver Book began on a writing trip to Rome and was ultimately completed in 10 weeks. “It ...

Loneliness is often imagined as a condition of absence. No company. No conversation. No one to call at the end of the day. Yet some of the most acute loneliness is experienced in full view of others, ...

The most famous garden, certainly in literature, is the Garden of Eden. It’s a paradise, Olivia Laing writes in her new book, and “every story told about it also incorporates it into a political ...

“It is always worth making a garden, no matter how temporary your stay,” writes Olivia Laing in her sixth book of nonfiction, “The Garden Against Time.” Admittedly, this is a sentiment that one could ...

In her latest book, Olivia Laing makes an impassioned case for the garden — as repository of natural beauty, as democratic ideal, as writerly inspiration. Credit...Embroidery by Jillian Tamaki; Photo ...