Description
A haunting, ethereal and beautiful twist on The Secret Garden, for fans of Shirley Jackson, Piranesi and Unsettled Ground
'Extraordinary... it already feels like a classic' Emerald Fennell, Oscar-winning director of PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN and SALTBURN
'A seductive modern fairytale' Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters
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In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. For as long as they can remember, Evelyn and Lily have only had each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know.
Each day is spent in languid service to their home: tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother. So, when a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the centre of this new Eden, the reality of their existence is irrevocably shattered. Who is he? And where did he come from?
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READER'S RESPONSES to THE GARDEN:
'Definitely one of the most original books I've ever read and I loved every moment of the reading experience' 5-star reader review
'LOVED this. Reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived In The Castle" and Susanna Clarke's "Piranesi"' 5-star reader review
'Newman's writing style and world-building are poetic and evocative, yet also eerie and suspenseful.' 5-star reader review
'WOW! I was absolutely engrossed in this genre-bender for two days straight.' 5-star reader review
'Fans of Emily St. John Mandel, Lily Brooks-Dalton, and Charlotte McConaghy will enjoy this book.' 5-star reader review
'Part Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, part Lord of the Flies, part Shirley Jackson : all itself' 5-star reader review
'Nick Newman's distinctly creepy, quirky, mountingly tense post apocalyptic Gothic Garden of Eden novel is definitely weird, and remarkably wonderful.' 5-star reader review
'Gave me a mixture of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and I Capture the Castle vibes' 5-star reader review
'Outstanding. I was hooked on the story from the beginning. It had such a weird, evocative vibe from the beginning.' 5-star reader review
'Whatever else I read in 2025, it's definitely going to be one of my top ten.' 5-star reader review
About the Author
Nick Newman is the pseudonym of critically acclaimed children's author Nicholas Bowling. He has written four novels for young readers including In the Shadow of Heroes (shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award) and The Undying of Obedience Wellrest (Financial Times Best YA Books of 2023, Guardian Children's Roundup December 2023). He works as a bookseller at Daunt Books.
Reviews
This climate-change horror story, reminiscent of John Wyndham, combines a bleak message and often brutal action with absolutely exquisite writing * Daily Mail *
A fairy tale which gets you by the throat and doesn't let go. The Garden is both a horror story and a meditation on love at the end of the world. It's a testament to Newman's extraordinary gifts that its creeping dread never overwhelms its tenderness. The cool restraint of the writing only compounds its devastating power. * Emerald Fennell *
The Garden is a seductive modern fairytale that glitters with menace and mystery. Newman writes beautifully about isolation, confinement and contagious fear, while tending a plot that is as tangled and twisty as Evelyn and Lily's beloved wilderness. This is a gorgeously imagined novel about growth, retreat and the sacrifices we make to protect our beliefs - and the people we love. * Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters *
I was enchanted by this spooky, dreamy novel. Expansive and claustrophobic in equal measure, THE GARDEN is an eerie testament to the power of narrative to shape our reality-and the lengths we'll go to in order to protect what we believe. * Sara Sligar, author of Take Me Apart *
'[An] intriguing mix of psychological mystery and dystopian gothic. * Guardian *
'A dreamy, evocative novel that reads like a grown-up fairytale. Just like the garden that Evelyn's tends, this story grows in meaning with every word. It asks the big questions about what makes us who we are and who to trust. And, like the best fairytales, the answers are often as dark as they are revealing. * Araminta Hall, author of OUR KIND OF CRUELTY *
A gothic novel of weird sisters in the vein of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Nick Newman's alluring debut twists and slithers into its own mysterious, compulsively readable shape. I loved it! * Mason Coile, author of William *
With shades of Shirley Jackson and Susanna Clarke, THE GARDEN is a shapeshifting fable that will stay with you long after you leave it behind. * Sara Flannery Murphy, author of THE POSSESSIONS, GIRL ONE, and THE WONDER STATE *
A dark, fairy tale-like novel of creeping dread * i Newspaper *
Part fable, part literary thriller, wholly unmoored from genre convention, The Garden may be the elusive inheritor to the weirdness of Susanna Clarke's Piranesi. * Vulture *
Book Information
ISBN 9781529923940
Author Nick Newman
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Doubleday
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 356g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 154mm * 22mm
