Tom's Midnight Garden

Tom is staying with his aunt and uncle while his brother is in bed with the measles. At first he dreads it because their apartment - one of several in an old house - has no garden to play in, but he discovers that the grandfather clock in the downstairs hall chimes to its own version of time and opens the back door onto a garden of the past. He wanders that magic garden every night and there meets and befriends Hatty. Time in the garden passes differently, and Tom discovers that the magic won't last forever.
Opening a door to another, magical land is right up there on my list of excellent plot devices, and I *loved* this book when I read it a few years ago, and wish that I'd discovered it as a kid. The twist at the end is very show more satisfying, too. Charlie wasn't quite as enchanted with it as I am, but he still enjoyed it (or at least he humored me by saying so). show less

Sent to stay with his Uncle Allan and Aunt Gwen when his brother has the measles, Tom Long is bitterly disappointed and unhappy at the prospect of a dismal holiday spent at their flat, which takes up one floor of an old Victorian house. Lying awake late at night, he is puzzled when he hears the grandfather clock in the lobby striking thirteen, and going downstairs to investigate, he slips out of the house and into a mysterious garden that was not there during the daytime. As it transpires, Tom has slipped into the past, into the Victorian age, when the house was still a great mansion. Here, in this midnight garden, he meets and befriends Hatty, an orphaned girl come to stay in the house, and one of the only people in the past who can show more see him. They have many wonderful times together in the garden, but all things must come to an end, and one night Tom finds that he can no longer enter the midnight garden - he can no longer travel to the past. In despair, he thinks that he has lost Hatty. But has he...?

A haunting and brilliant tale, Tom's Midnight Garden is a book I first encountered as a young girl, reading it, loving it, and then, despite its story staying with me through the years, forgetting its title. I can remember many times, thinking of that odd, enchanted story I used to love about the boy, the grandfather clock that struck thirteen, and the nighttime garden. This was before computers were ubiquitous, and I wasn't sure how to track it down. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to ask a children's librarian, but in any case, I happened across it by accident one day, in my early twenties, snapped it up, and reread it. It was like coming home. Originally published in 1958, Tom's Midnight Garden won the Carnegie Medal that year, and it is not difficult to see why. It is an almost perfect book, addressing the pain of childhood, the joy and difficulty of friendship, and the nature of time and of dreaming in perceptive, sensitive ways. The conclusion, in which Tom discovers that old Mrs. Bartholomew, who is his aunt and uncle's landlady, is actually Hatty, grown old, and that it is her dreams of her own youth that have allowed him to travel to the past, always sends a shiver down my spine. They say the past is always with us, and I think that this is because we carry it with us - in our memories, and in our dreams. Philippa Pearce has chosen a unique way of exploring that idea, and she has done it brilliantly! Beautifully conceived, beautifully told, and beautifully written - this is a true classic, and is one I enjoy rereading from time to time, since rediscovering it. show less

Reading Challenge: Re-read a book you loved as a child.

I honestly think this book, about a quarantined boy who discovers a ghostly garden from the past that he can only visit at night, is pretty much perfect. Aside from a few odd moments in which Pearce gets ahead of herself with the story, it is incredibly skilfully written and brimming with atmosphere and intrigue. Although it was published in the fifties, I don't find that it has dated particularly, only that it has to be set then for the time travel part of the story to work. I've always loved time travel as a story device and this is one of the most memorable. I don't remember when I first read (or had read to me) this story - I know by the time my class read it in Junior School show more that I was already long familiar with it and owned my own copy. I have re-read it many times, each time growing up like Hatty and moving further away from Tom's childlike interests and understandings, but it doesn't harm the book, only alters my perception of the characters. It is a haunting and magical story about overcoming loneliness. show less

I´ve had this book for a long time and just barely got to it. It is listed as one of the top ten Carnegie medal winners, and I couldn´t agree more.
The book is about Tom Longmore and the summer he was sent away to his aunt´s house because his brother Peter had measles and his parents didn´t want him catching it.
Tom is devastated to leave because he had plans to spend the summer in his garden building a tree house with his brother; but instead is sent to his aunt´s flat, which has no garden at all.
One night, he listens to the grandfather clock in the landing strike thirteen times, so full of curiosity, Tom goes downstairs to investigate it. What he discovers is the most magical garden just outside the door where there was nothing show more there before.
Each night, he visits the garden, where he also sees several children there playing. Funny thing is no one can see or hear him; it´s almost as if he were a ghost. That is until he meets a girl called Hattie who can actually see him. They spend the time playing and talking to each other.
Now, time passes differently in the garden than in real life; and soon Hattie starts to grow up while Tom remains a young boy. As the days go by, Tom dreads going back home because he will no longer have the magical garden or Hattie to play with, so he desperately tries to find a solution to his problem.
The story is beautifully woven and you really have no idea how it is that the garden comes to be and why Tom seems to travel back and forth through time when he is there. When the reason is revealed, it couldn´t have been more perfect. I love reading award winning books for children of all ages and always come back with a great experience in my hands; but I can honestly say that Tom´s Midnight Garden has one of the most beautiful endings I have come across. That last paragraph feels like someone is reaching out to hold your heart in their hands. Just perfect. show less

This book stuck with me long after it was first read to me by my wonderful school librarian. This was one of those fine books that was read to us during our library time in my recollection, stretching out the suspense day by day and leaving us at the edge of our cushion-padded seats. I remembered most keenly the clock striking thirteen, and the strange way time was both past, present, and future all melded into one with each influencing the other as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It left a mark on me at the time, and a far larger one than I even realized until I reread it as an adult.

[b: Tom's Midnight Garden|543086|Tom's Midnight Garden|Philippa Pearce|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348198004s/543086.jpg|530403] show more falls into the category of classic children's books that are truly endless. It reads almost like a fairy tale, easing you into a world so slowly that without realizing it you are there with Tom living more in fantasy than in reality, the dullness of day to day eclipsed by the magical world of imagination. It's a ghost story, a mystery, a beautiful sci-fi tale of time slips and illusion that recalls back a childhood few of us have now lived with such striking detail that it tugs at your very heartstrings. This is a beautiful book, and the ending is among the most beautiful in literature that I have yet experienced.

I highly recommend this book be reread by anyone who grew up with it, and to be read by those who didn't. Don't worry about being too old, it will only take you an hour or so to read... but in that time you'll live at least two lifetimes, and hopefully be left with a smile on your face. show less

My first encounter with “Tom's Midnight Garden” occurred in 1989. I arrived home from school, switched on the TV, and became absorbed by a BBC adaptation of “TMG”. This was perhaps the second episode and I ensured that I saw the rest of the series. I also kept an eye out for a repeat broadcast, which transpired either later that same year or maybe in 1990. Whenever it was, I watched every episode and enjoyed them as much as, if not more than, when first seeing them.

A few years ago I saw advertised a 1999 film adaptation of “Tom's Midnight Garden”. Even though I was in my thirties by then, my fondness for that 1989 series meant I had to see this version, which I enjoyed too.

With all this in mind, I’ve often wondered if the show more book would be appealing or whether it’d be too childish for a “grown-up man” to get into. Having read a few reviews first, noting that many adults have read the book *as* adults, not as children, I felt I’d give it a go.

Verdict? Brilliant!

I realise now how faithful the film and especially the TV series are to the novel. Although it’s written for children it that doesn’t mean grown-ups can’t appreciate the charm, intelligence, and imagination that make this a wonderful piece of escapism.

The characters are all well-drawn, particularly the main two. Tom comes across as a little selfish at times, but bearing in mind he’s a young lad, this doesn’t make him unlikeable in any respect.

Hatty is my favourite. She’s endearing in every way and, had I been a young boy drawn back through time into a garden were only a couple of people could see me (if only!), I can’t think of a better playmate than Hatty. In fact, I don’t think the story would’ve been as strong as it is if Tom had instead befriended another boy, so it’s a good move by the author to choose the lonely orphan girl for Tom’s friend.

Something about this entire story – the concept, the time-travel, the two main characters – that makes it more than just a children’s story. Just as the 1989 TV series has stuck with me all these years, no doubt the book will do so too.

Some people talk about their “inner-child”/”child within” and I think “Tom's Midnight Garden” evokes just that. It’s a warm albeit slightly sad feeling. The last few paragraphs are beautifully touching.

This novel is both a classic and – no pun intended – timeless. show less

No book left such an impression on me in childhood, and I was a reading addict. I pored over Verne, Conan-Doyle, Heinlein, Clark, Carroll, Barrie, Pease, Norton, Kierkegaard, all of the Action Comics heroes and more.

Yet this simple, elegant tale of first love, the dawning of adolescence and the passage of time moves me as much today as it did 45 years ago.

I've never understood why it is so little known, since it seems to cast its spell over everyone who has read it at my recommendation.