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1readaholic12
I'm trying to help a fellow blogger David Atkinson find the title or author of a short story:
In the story, I remember that there is this young guy who sneaks into this old guy’s garden. He finds a girl there and falls in love with her. He thinks she is the old guy’s daughter and that the old guy is keeping her secret from the world so no young guys get her. She falls in love with him too, being the first guy she’s seen other than her father. They hear her father coming and the young guy goes to snatch her away. Unfortunately, he breaks her off at the root and she dies.
You see, apparently the old guy was experimenting with plants. Guess he must have been some plant genius or something, because he grew himself a daughter. This young guy was so in love with the girl that he apparently didn’t notice that she grew from the ground.
I read this story a while ago, but I started thinking about it again after reading Hoffmann’s “The Sandman.” I really want to find it again so I can compare, but I can’t remember the title or the author.
I’ve gone through so many different periods of reading that it could be an old author like Hawthorne (No, before you say it the story isn’t “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” The girl isn’t a plant in that story), a newer author writing like an older author, or anything. I thought it felt like Romantic Gothic, but it could be a modern writer writing like Romantic Gothic. It could even be a mythos writer writing outside of strict mythos characters. It could be anything. I’m stumped.
Does this story sound familiar to anyone at all? I can’t be the only person who ever read it. Someone out there has to know. Thanks.
In the story, I remember that there is this young guy who sneaks into this old guy’s garden. He finds a girl there and falls in love with her. He thinks she is the old guy’s daughter and that the old guy is keeping her secret from the world so no young guys get her. She falls in love with him too, being the first guy she’s seen other than her father. They hear her father coming and the young guy goes to snatch her away. Unfortunately, he breaks her off at the root and she dies.
You see, apparently the old guy was experimenting with plants. Guess he must have been some plant genius or something, because he grew himself a daughter. This young guy was so in love with the girl that he apparently didn’t notice that she grew from the ground.
I read this story a while ago, but I started thinking about it again after reading Hoffmann’s “The Sandman.” I really want to find it again so I can compare, but I can’t remember the title or the author.
I’ve gone through so many different periods of reading that it could be an old author like Hawthorne (No, before you say it the story isn’t “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” The girl isn’t a plant in that story), a newer author writing like an older author, or anything. I thought it felt like Romantic Gothic, but it could be a modern writer writing like Romantic Gothic. It could even be a mythos writer writing outside of strict mythos characters. It could be anything. I’m stumped.
Does this story sound familiar to anyone at all? I can’t be the only person who ever read it. Someone out there has to know. Thanks.
2MyriadBooks
I read this. Let me think.
ETA: Gaaaaah. I feel like I read it in a short-story anthology or collection. I don't remember any illustrations, so not a magazine. I don't think I read it online. I feel like I read it relatively recently, like within the past five or ten years. I read a lot of dark fantasy/horror. Could it be from a Year's Best publication?
ETA: Gaaaaah. I feel like I read it in a short-story anthology or collection. I don't remember any illustrations, so not a magazine. I don't think I read it online. I feel like I read it relatively recently, like within the past five or ten years. I read a lot of dark fantasy/horror. Could it be from a Year's Best publication?
3RowanTribe
I've got nothing, but I hope that if you find it, you post here - because it sounds awesome!
5Petroglyph
This is a Tanith Lee story. Let me see if I can track down the title.
EDIT: The lily garden. It's her version (reboot? rewrite?) of the Hawthorne story.
EDIT: The lily garden. It's her version (reboot? rewrite?) of the Hawthorne story.
6Nerilka
touchstone: The Lily Garden
7readaholic12
Thank you so much for your help. I never fail to be amazed at the collective mind of the LT community. David will be thrilled to know the name of this story.
8Petroglyph
You're welcome. Speaking for myself, I'm always glad to point people in the direction of stuff I've enjoyed.
9sparemethecensor
I loved Rappacini's Daughter, so I can't wait to check out The Lily Garden. Sweet.
