This is not a book about Japanese gardens, but it may as well be one. The author invites readers to look within themselves, use their imaginations, and create an original garden that is beautiful and personally meaningful--a garden that reflects the soul. Moir Messervy suggests that memories of places we loved in childhood can play significant roles in fashioning a pleasing garden for our adult years. She mentioned caves, the sea, harbors, promontories, islands, mountains and the sky as archetypes with special meanings for us that we can re-create in our gardens.