The Garden

The Garden - N.Newman
Audio performance by Nicolette McKenzie
4 stars

The book begins with the interior thoughts of an elderly woman, Evelyn, tending her bees. Someone or something has disturbed one of the hives. So very odd. The only other person who could have done such a thing is her sister, Lily. Lily is afraid of bees.

But, Lily is the only other person. The only other person anywhere. No one else comes to the garden. There’s no one and nothing beyond it. As far as Evelyn believes. As far as Evelyn knows.

There’s a very gothic atmosphere to this post apocalyptic book. (Not a nuclear disaster apocalypse, this is a climate change disaster novel. The garden setting is a perfect showcase for climate change consequences.) The aging show more sisters have a strange childlike relationship. Their past is revealed as the unreliable memories of two very unreliable narrators. As their eerie, decades-long seclusion is disturbed by the arrival of a starving young boy, the plot slips from the strange and eccentric to outright horror.

I don’t usually care for spooky stories, but this one grabbed me. show less

This is an eerily creepy dystopian story of two elderly sisters who live alone in their families crumbling mansion somewhere in England after the world as they knew it has ended. We don't know exactly what happened but it was clearly catastrophic for the the planet. They spend their days taking care of their huge garden following the directives of the almanac their mother created before she died. They have not seen another human being in years and fear anything outside of the garden wall. They believe what their mother told them, there is nothing but monsters beyond the wall. But their sisterly dynamics suddenly change when they discover a young boy has breached the wall and entered their isolated world. The sisters begin to question show more their mothers strict rules because if one boy can find them could there not be others? I really enjoyed this novel. It's got the right mix of horror, humor and surprise twists that I found absolutely intriguing. For fans of something a little bit different this book is for you. Highly recommended. 5 stars.
Many thanks to Net Galley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for a chance to read an ARC version of this book. show less

A Piranesi and Shirley Jackson combo is accurate as far as the type of book this is, but The Garden lacks the soul or originality of those writers. Unlike their books, The Garden has a strong feeling of unrelenting dread the whole way through, and the effect of that was unpleasant for me. While Jackson and Susannah Clarke also use dread in their writing, they interrupt it at times with something else. Jackson uses dark humor, Clarke uses beauty. Theirs are stronger books as a result.

The quality of the writing itself is solid overall, and I noticed that Nick Newman’s writing shines anytime he is describing nature.

I really didn’t enjoy the last third of the book. It felt like it was meant to be building to something meaningful, but show more then ultimately it didn’t. That brought it down from a 3 star read to a 2.5 for me.

Readers who don’t need everything to be answered by the end of the book and who are fine with slower paced books will be more likely to enjoy this.

I also have a strong hunch that this might be a hit with I Who Have Never Known Men fans (a book I found too unrelentingly bleak and ended up DNFing). show less

I received an ARC of Newman's The Garden for free.
Things rotting beneath the surface. An allegory for the garden and the fall? The end of the world and the beginning of a new one, over and over again in a never ending cycle.
Two sisters, their traumatic and mysterious past, a stranger comes to town and changes everything. Even though things have changed more over the years than they would like to admit. A tight story, told in limited spaces and with limited characters, exploring our relationships with each other, the world, and mental illness.

The Garden by Nick Newman is a highly recommended dystopian fairy tale-esque literary novel with gothic/horror elements.

Evelyn and Lily, two elderly sisters, live only in the kitchen of a decrepit manor and spend all their time caring for the garden, fruit trees, and tending the bees behind the stone walls that keep them secluded from the outside world. They have lived in isolation for years. Evelyn carefully follows the instructions of the almanac written by their mother, even though the information in it no longer resembles the world they live in where dust storms are always a threat. At the same time Lily takes the daily chores leisurely and prefers to dance or play. When a nameless young man is found hiding in the house it changes show more the dynamics of the relationship between the sisters.

In this eerie, slow-paced atmospheric novel it is clear from the start that something isn't entirely right with the sisters. Their life-long relationship is dysfunctional. There is character development but in their completely isolated and dystopian world their personalities are odd, childlike, and still subservient to their deceased mother orders. They are also still acting out their roles from childhood. Their deceased mother is almost another character and flashbacks to their childhood intimate she was likely abusive.

For readers many questions will quickly arise and most won't be answered. No location or time period is ever mentioned and it's likely the sisters don't know. We have no clear understanding why everything from outside the wall is to be feared. Some of the sister's ritualistic behavior is nonsensical. We know that huge dust storms can occur. We know they have been instructed to fear men. The tension increases when Evelyn begins to suspect someone is on their land, while the horror elements are slowly uncovered in a natural development of the narrative.
This is a well-written dystopian novel that has similarities to other previously published books in the same post-apocalyptic/isolated population genre, but is a unique, entertaining take on the trope.
Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2025/01/the-garden.html show less

Nick Newman (adult pen-name of Nicholas Bowling) is most notably know as the author of several children’s novels including Witchborn and In the Shadow of Heroes, but his adult fiction debut, The Garden is a chilling dystopian with a startling premise. Two elderly sisters have not left the borders of their garden in decades. They have no concepts of what lay beyond the walls, only their mother's dire warnings. Evelyn and Lily rely on their mother's almanac and it hasn't steered them wrong. But the eerie and lonely monotony of isolation has taken a toll on both of the sisters. When a young boy breeches the wall they are shocked. They haven't seen another living person in ages. What should they do with him?Can he be trusted? The sisters show more begin to question their loyalty to the land and to each other. What is outside the garden walls? This cli-fi (climate fiction) dystopian is dark and evocative. Hauntingly narrated by Nicolette McKenzie, whose childlike voice and deprecating prose perfectly encapsulates the two sheltered sisters. Verdict - Fans of Gray Gardens and climate fiction will enjoy this claustrophobically captivating tale about two sisters who must decide if the garden walls are a prison or a sanctuary. - Erin Cataldi show less

A few months ago, while shopping at a Barnes and Noble, I noticed the gorgeous book cover of The Garden by Nick Newman. The book description resonated with me, as my husband and I were embarking on our first season of planting vegetable and flower gardens and had recently purchased a greenhouse. The premise of a story about two elderly sisters living within a walled garden, oblivious to the outside world, piqued my interest.

Sisters Evelyn and Lily live contentedly within the walled garden surrounding their childhood home. Their days are filled with tending to the bees, cultivating a vegetable garden, and nurturing flowers. The sisters are guided by the almanac left to them by their mother. Their tranquility is disturbed when they show more discover a boy hiding within their boarded-up home. His unexpected presence threatens to disrupt their solitude and safety from the outside world.

The book cover matches my love for this story, but it doesn’t quite reflect the dark realities that unfold within its pages. I adored Evelyn and Lily. Their ages are intentionally left unspecified, and at times, their behaviors and dialogue gave the impression that they were quite young, even childlike. However, at other moments, they appeared more mature. I thoroughly enjoyed their sibling banter and the dynamics of their relationship. I also appreciated the ambiguity of certain details, as it suggested that these details were insignificant compared to the profound depth of the story that gradually revealed itself. As each sister reminisces about their past, fragments of their childhood are unveiled, along with the circumstances that led them to live alone within the confines of the walled garden. Throughout the journey of this book, I became attached to Evelyn and Lily and invested in their lives. Their past was intriguing and kept me engaged. I was increasingly curious about what lay beyond the walled garden. Several unexpected surprises awaited me. The ending left me with a bittersweet feeling, a mix of sadness and hope.

Unless I win the lottery, it’s not wise for me to buy every book that catches my attention. I opted to borrow the audiobook of The Garden from my local library using Libby. Nicolette McKenzie’s narration was simply fantastic.

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog show less