Night Gardening : A Novel

Maggie is sixty years old, the widow of a man who was a member of one of Boston's old and wealthy families. Unfortunately, in recent generations they had became a family of drinkers and spenders.

After her husband's death, Maggie suffered a major stroke from which she is still recovering. A talented gardener, she sits on her porch and laments the poor condition her once beautiful garden has fallen into, and the fact that she has neither the health or finances to restore it.

The large house next door has new owners and Maggie begins to occupy herself by watching work in their garden by peeking through holes in the wall between them. She delights in the unusual choice of plants and the amazing feats of heavy equipment. It's not long show more before she also delights in watching Tristan Mallory, the landscape architect making it happen.

After a through the wall meeting takes place, Tristan is delighted to learn Maggie calls plants by their Latin names. Ten years younger than Maggie and divorced, a friendship develops between them and Tristan begins to work at night restoring Maggie's garden.

I loved the unique story of this small, quiet book and the well done gardening angle was a delight to me. I didn't feel the same with the characters. Maggie I found beliveable but there wasn't much depth to Tristan and I'm disappointed their relationship which grew into a romance, didn't ever seem real to me. show less

trekwoman's bookbox; wildflower37; the prose was so lush, like the gardens it evokes. Landscape architect Tristan is remodeling the garden next door, and widowed Maggie is recovering from her stroke in her overgrown garden. The glimpse each other through the crumbing wall and begin a friendship and romance in her garden each night. He manages to get her moving to assist him (if she can't walk, can she crawl? Of course!), and the garden is returned to it's former glory. Have the tissues handy for the sad ending though.

A well-to-do widow, recovering from a devastating stroke, in Cambridge Massachusetts, meets a professional landscaper over the wall of her neglected garden. He is intrigued by her commitment to her recovery as well as being impressed by the design of her garden that once had been a showcase of rare and exotic plants. The return of her garden to it's former glory as they work together is a metaphor for the blooming love between them as she continues on her road to recovery.

This was a very sweet love story, too sweet for my tastes. I enjoyed the description of her gardens,and the rare and exotic flowers, but the love story was just a little too melodramatic and Nicholas Sparks-ish for my taste.

Night Gardening by E.L. Swann

Cambridge, MA-Maggie Wells is recovering from a stroke, she's a widow. Her garden has gone by the wayside.
Tristan Mallory, the landscape architect gardens next door, during the light of the moon. His clients are rich women who have something in mind but want the famous gardens recreated in their backyards.
The Steins have hired him and he would be able to use his heavy equipment and blue slate he transports to this area.
Alternating chapters from each. He discovers her through the cracked wall and proceeds to help her with the physical therapy as he uncovers her sexuality. Turmoil comes in the form of her son who tries to take over her financial world...
Loved all the Latin names and their combined forces to show more create what was once at her garden.
I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. show less

Very light read. Not great literature, but entertaining and enjoyable.

Old people falling in love.

From Amazon:
"...Divorced Tristan Mallory is a top-notch landscape architect imported from New Hampshire by a wealthy couple in order to make magic on the grounds of their Cambridge, Mass., estate. Tristan, however, soon finds himself making even more magic next door. Through a crack in the brick wall and with a nod toward the children's classic The Secret Garden he observes Maggie Welles in her own long-neglected garden. The widow of an alcoholic, Maggie has recently survived a stroke, and at first Tristan merely admires her resilient personality from afar as she bravely undertakes the grueling exercises necessary to regain her speech and motor skills. After the two dramatically meet, they conspire to revamp Maggie's garden, working show more nocturnally for privacy from Maggie's therapists and her pestering, alcoholic children. Having cultivated their shared passion, Maggie and Tristan awaken sensual feelings in each other, their erotic interludes a gateway to the true love that has eluded them for a lifetime. Swann seamlessly blends a Zen philosophy of gardening into her radiant tale of second chances, using her love for horticulture as a richly nuanced metaphor for the regenerative nurturing and flourishing of characters. Sentimental in the most heartfelt way, without resorting to the maudlin, Swann scripts wonderful dialogue for her principals, crafting sharply witty relationships, a believable setting and a deeply satisfying romantic plot." show less