The Walled Garden is a historical novel set in the aftermath of the Second World War. Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, and is Lady of the Manor at Oakbourne Hall. Their once happy marriage is a distant memory following Stephen’s personality change after the traumas he endured while fighting for his country.
This was a a slow burn of a novel and although I enjoy historical fiction, the lack of pace detracted from my enjoyment.

The colourful cover drew me in to this wonderful audio book by Sarah Hardy. The men returning to the village of Oakbourne after WWII are not the same as when they left, they are traumatised in different ways and are struggling to get to grips with being home. Floundering in a different way are the loved ones they have returned to, who are not sure how to deal with these acute changes. Alice is married to Stephen, they live in the dilapidated Oakbourne Hall, and on his return their happy marriage dissolves into one of avoidance and fear. Alice finds renewed strength and optimism in her walled garden. The book encompasses the idea of healing after the trauma of war and how resilience, compassion and faith and can give people hope after such loss. Thank you to Net Galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

this was okay, but read very juvenile and i didn't feel connected to the characters or what happens to them at all. i can see other reader enjoying this a lot tho!

— thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the free digital ARC.

This is a deeply moving book about the aftermath of war and the effect on various people including those who fought and those who stayed behind, whether from choice or not. It includes some distressing imagery, betrayal and a realistic take on how PTSD can have long term impact on relationships.
Unlike many novels, I felt that this one started slowly, almost gently and built to a more dramatic reveal and climax. No dying off towards the end here! I enjoyed it more as I continued through.
No more give away on the plot but one other comment; I don't think either the title or the cover picture are right for this book. The bright picture gives a completely different impression and, although a garden features, the story is not really much to do with the title.

For me, the first half of this book was rather slow, and I almost gave up on it. I could not see where the story was going, or how it would end. However, I am glad I stuck with this book as I really enjoyed the second half. I felt that in the second half, I had more compassion for the main characters, as their different but equally tragic stories unfolded. Some of which will stay with me for a long time.
I thoroughly enjoyed tuning into the narrators voice which I found very easy to listen to.
If I could I would give this book 3.5 stars

I have seen so many wonderful and positive reviews for The Walled Garden and I was immediately attracted to the plot and the idea of the garden.

The story is set an English village, Oakbourne, in 1946. This is a community in shock, devastated. The aftermath of war seeps into every aspect of the villagers’ lives. Post war jobs, economics and livelihoods are affected as the country tries to rebuild. Families driven apart by war are seeking to repair their joint lives. The end of the war has seen the loss of some loved ones and the return of loved ones who will never be the same again. Everyone has been altered physically and mentally and the rebuilding is only just starting…

The narrative follows several characters and families. Alice has been running the Oakbourne Hall in the absence of her husband. She is a keen gardener and when her husband returns in shock, cold and distant, she seeks her peace in the walled garden. They sleep in separate bedrooms. He won’t discuss anything that has happened to him.. Once a gentle and kindly man he is bitter and angry, subject to mood swings.

This was almost a book of two halves for me. The writing is beautiful; characters perceptively drawn and the portrait of post war Britain powerfully observed. The sense of a depressed and shattered community was tangible and almost too much to absorb and I felt my spirits sinking. There seemed so little to give hope and it was quite understandably depressing. The first part of the book felt like a day to day survival. And then suddenly through the characters of Stephen and the Vicar the story become something so much bigger and absolutely blew me away. As the detail of Stephen’s wartime experience is revealed in parallel with a tender emerging relationship between two characters, this novel really found another quite brilliant level!

I listened to this on audiobook. The narrator was superb, her voice was perfect for the narrative and perfectly suited to the voices of the characters.

4.5 Stars!!

I have subsequently purchased a copy of this book because it is definitely a keeper!

Thank you NetGalley and Bonnier UK Audio for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this incredibly moving. The Walled Garden tells the stories of multiple women whose husbands fought in WW2. Set just after the war, this story explores the impact upon marriages, love and families, and how the trauma faced affects those that did not even fight. A crumbling marriage leads to a secret affair with an old friend, but this love gets thrown off the tracks by an event, causing it to end. There was so much emotion packed into this, with the narrator portraying it brilliantly.

The walled garden is a haunting and harrowing look at how the war affected people caught up in it.
It was utterly beautiful and sad at the same time. I loved all the references to nature and how beauty can shine through no matter what.
This book really was wonderful and heart wrenching at the same time. It was a really insightful look at how people struggled to adjust to life after seeing the utter horrors war brings.

This was such a beautifully written piece of historical fiction, and the narration was absolutely perfect. This genre isn’t my usual pick, but I was absolutely hooked as it follows the story of a number of linked characters following the end of world war 2.

It was told from various POVs and was a story of trauma, hope, love and survival after the war. The struggles of those who had suffered during the war were told sensitively and I felt an immediate emotional connection with all of the characters, and it made me reflect on how people get back to ‘real life’ after such a traumatic part of their life.

This was such an eye opener for me as well, as it isn’t a topic or part of history that I think about or am really educated on.

I think this book was perfect as an audiobook too - the narrator was brilliant and it flowed well as I listened.

A solid 4 stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's not you it's me 🙈🤭

A historical fiction story depicting the lives of people in old England who have weathered 2 wars and lived to tell the tale. But the wars have scared each one of them in their own ways. Some have lost the charm of being alive while others are trying to cope with what little they have left.

If you talk about writing, it was very descriptive and novel. The characters had all their distinguishable traits yet each house had a common suffering - war! There are many instances where the book addresses the antagonist's perspective, which often makes us side with the Villains. But, that didn't happen here. I felt almost no attachment to either the protagonist or the antagonist. There were certain traits of garden keeping in the story that reminded me of another book I read. With most of my feelings mellow towards the book, I am still pondering over a question from the book:
What has our generation done to deserve 2 wars?

Which historically speaking is pliable to actual events happening in the story. I would say this book is audience specific and would be enjoyed better by people looking for the themes of #worldwarfiction #postworldwarlife #british

Genre: #historicalfiction #postworldwartwo
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

The publisher allowed me to listen to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

What a particularly moving, emotional and poignant novel!
Sarah Hardy's book is narrated by Olivia Vinall, she has a beautiful melodious voice, which I can listen to for hours on end. In fact, she is often my to go narrators on Audible, and I own several books of which she is the narrator.

It is 1946. Alice Rayne is privileged and lives in the Big House, an old Jacobin estate. The manor house was used by the Canadians during the war and left in deplorable condition. Her husband Steven, came back from the war a broken and violent man. He does not manage to pick up his life again, and his relationship with his wife is estranged, they avoid each other as much as possible. Alice is afraid of his unpredictable behaviour. She focuses mainly on her roses, tomatoes and The Walled Garden on their estate.
A second POV forms the doctor's family, the Downes, his wife Jane, and their children. Jonathan has been a POW, once a brilliant surgeon, he can no longer practice: he has lost a leg, and as a result of war trauma, his hands shake continuously.
We are also introduced to Mr Ivens, the vicar, who is in poor health due to rheumatic fever in his early years. This condition did ensure that he was excused from service, allowing him to get through the war unscathed.
The beginning of the novel has, despite its undertones of disbelief, sadness and trauma, some kind of Nanny McPhee vibe to it. On the surface it is reminiscent of a trouble free childhood, endless summers, homemade scones, dishes and jam, plates of bread, butter and watercress sandwiches, and tea with ginger-cakes, with people dreamily moving through the countryside, albeit with suffering always lurking about.
Now that the war is finally over, people have woken up to a new world, where other social classes are emerging, with old authority relationships disappearing, where large estates are being split up, or reallocated. A National Health Service was officially born, and this revolutionary system made all Britons regardless of income status the first in the world to be guaranteed free healthcare, with people demanding equality, the old glory of big houses in a patriarchal world and ‘being in service’ no longer accepted.
We see how doctor Downes, and Steven struggle with memories of summers gone by, meanwhile plagued by what had happened to them. How cruel that they had to endure a second war in their generation, was it not the Great War, - a war to end all war, that promised there would never be war again?
While the men struggle through memories of the horrors of war, it is the women who try to keep things going, meanwhile yearning for connection with their broken husbands: Jane Downes looks after her family, Alice swims and works in the garden.

I get the impression that the Walled Garden is a nod to The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, in which the revival of the family and of the home is also one of the main themes. It is the garden in both novels that symbolises regeneration and restoration, changing gender roles, and a new emerging social class, with corresponding changing role patterns and expectations.

I must honestly confess that I completely lost myself in the story, and when there was crying in the book, I cried along.
I found it overwhelmingly moving, and the contrast with the budding garden and nature, with the horrors of war could not have been greater at times.
I found the story about Agnes agonisingly moving, and the emotions about ‘the violent man coming out of the war broken’ does shed a whole new light on who he is and how he suffered. You want nothing more than to take away all the pain and sorrow, but simultaneously know that you cannot. Grief is a recurring theme, and you watch them struggle and make sense of the losses around them, but meanwhile you continuously ask yourself ‘how can life be so terribly cruel and unforgiving.’
Some parts of the book left me in shambles, and this is one of the first audiobooks that made me shed a tear. Beautiful, beautiful language, with poignant memories that grab you by the throat.
It is as I hear C.S. Lewis: ‘something must drive us out of the nursery to the world of others, and that something is suffering..’ [ ..]
And suffer they do, the vicar who stayed at home during the war, yet is now fighting his own demons, the once brilliant surgeon who had to give up his dream, finds a new path as the manor takes in war veterans, and Alice, who must give up her heart for her marriage, children are born, children marry, and little by little there is hope, hope for a better future..

The story moved me: I am a child of parents who were children during the war. It has affected my upbringing, I can see now they tried to made the best of it. The silent, never-complainant generation. Work hard, keep you head up high and deal with it. The story of Steven, vicar Ivens, Alice and Jonathan Downes moved me to tears, and I wanted to cry for Alice, for Steven, for vicar Ivens, who had to make an incredibly great sacrifice, and in the end I even cried for my parents, who lost the innocence of their childhood during those dreadful years.
I have read many stories about the war. This one broke my heart.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this brilliant, and utterly moving story with me.

(5+ stars).

I found this a rather sad and depressing listen I am afraid. The burgeoning relationship between the vicar and the lady of the manor was moving and very touching but I found the pain, bitterness and resentment of some of the characters rather wearing at times. The story was at its best when it focused on the here and now of their lives and things were happening that moved the story along. Alice is a wonderful character, trying so hard to be positive and seeking escape and solutions through her garden and planting seeds both actually and metaphorically to improve her situation. Her fears both of and for her troubled, angry and anguished husband are real and frightening but the book didn't really need the trauma of the doctor's war time experiences to add to the misery. The resolution was carefully handled as the story ended on a mostly optimistic note. I was a little disappointed that the garden did not play more of a significant role in the story
It was not an easy listen but Olivia Vinall reads clearly and carefully. I could hear the smile and the sadness in her voice. The characterisation was quite subtle but distinctive enough.
A thought provoking story that I was glad to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

This is a beautiful historical fiction that vividly tells the story of how people cope with post-war reality. We meet men who have returned home and women waiting for their return. It is a very lyrical and atmospheric story that can move and hurt. I have to say that the narrator, Olivia Vinall, did a great job. The way she reads makes the emotions even stronger in the reader. The story is given an extra dimension in a clear, softly modulated voice that calmly reads about war traumas, dreams and hopeful attempts to build a new life. All this makes the unusual and rare power of an original literary vision in which it is easy to get involved. This audiobook was beautiful, touching and simultaneously a bit overwhelming in its intensity. That's why I had to stop occasionally to listen to rest and allow myself to regenerate. Overall a perfect story.

Set in Suffolk, This is the story of of a husband and wife- Alice and Stephen and how their lives have been changed by war. Stephen has survived and returned from war but he is left scarred emotionally and left unable to talk and share what he has witnessed with Alice. The book highlights not only the problems people had to cope with when the war was over but how they dealt with these issues and how much pain and suffering went on behind closed door. These men were changed through no fault of their own. This is a slow and very sad audiobook but also an essential story so that we never forget what these people went through . A debut novel, unforgettable and brilliant on audio told by Olivia Vinall. Thank you Netgalley and Bonnier Audio.

This was a really pleasant surprise of a historical fiction! The blurb sounded intriguing and I’m really glad I got a copy of the audio to listen to.

The narration was easy to engage with and I enjoyed the different character perspectives that the story was told from. This was an interesting bunch. Stephen’s story captured me most - that exploration of the impact that the brutalities of war had on his experience of returning to day to day life.

I really enjoyed the exploration of attitudes in post war Britain, in particular the election of a Labour government and the build up towards what would be the establishment of the NHS. It was interesting to see that impact of war reflected on the attitudes of society moving forward.

Overall this was a beautiful work of historical fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my audio copy of this book.

I loved the cover but having read the book I must say it doesn't match the story. This romantic cover suggests a light-hearted historical fiction, while this novel is a serious, sometimes melancholy, bittersweet read. Post-traumatic stress caused by the world war is discussed and described in details, so this might not be for everyone.

It starts a bit slowly but once the story picks up, it's a book worth reading. I recommend the audio version in particular - Olivia Vinall does a great job as narrator.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier UK Audio for an ARC.

The Walled Garden, by Sarah Hardy

1946 in a small Suffolk village where, after the war, everyone has lost something of themselves. Whether the men and boys who went to war, or the women and children who stayed behind, none of them escaped unscathed.

This heartbreaking story explores the effect that the unthinkable cruelty and horror of war has on innocent people.

They can never forget, but can they move on?

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

A beautiful book about how PTSD affected those that fought in the second world war and how it affects their family.

It focuses on Stephen and Alice and the villagers that live in Oak Oakbourne and how the war affected their lives afterwards.

Very beautiful and the cover is amazing

The Walled Garden is a story about the lingering effects of war, for the men who fought in battle, and for those they came home to - if they came home at all. At the story’s center is the marriage of Stephen and Alice. Stephen, who before the war was a gentle poet, has returned an angry, bitter, closed-off shell of the man he once was. Frustrated at her many rebuffed and rejected attempts to help him, Alice retreats to the garden, among other escapes.

While I must admit I found it to lag at points, I still enjoyed the story and rooted for the characters to find ways to heal and move forward.

The narrator, Olivia Vinall, did a good job with the narration as well.

*This review is based on the audiobook provided by NetGalley and Bonnier UK Audio in exchange for an honest review.