The Garden by Nick Newman is a haunting, meditative novel that lingers long after the final page. Set in an unspecified time and place, it follows two elderly sisters, Evelyn and Lily, who live in a walled garden, isolated from the outside world. Their days are governed by the almanac left by their long-dead mother, dictating their routines and reinforcing their seclusion. The arrival of a nameless boy disrupts their carefully maintained existence, forcing them to confront the cracks in their reality and the truths they've long suppressed.​
Newman's prose is lyrical and evocative, imbuing the narrative with a dreamlike quality that blurs the lines between reality and fable. The sisters' relationship is tender yet fraught, reflecting themes of obedience, isolation, and the human need for connection. The novel's atmosphere is both eerie and beautiful, drawing readers into its enigmatic world.​
The Garden is a poignant exploration of memory, survival, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the world. It's a compelling read for those who appreciate introspective, character-driven narratives that challenge and enchant in equal measure.

I had this book on my to be red list for rather a long time and I was put off it because I thought it was about religious sisters were in fact it’s about biological sisters.
There has been some kind of dystopian or catastrophic event at home stage in the past which has caused a young family to isolate themselves in a large country house which is surrounded by a high wall. Initially when the event happens there are two young girls and their parents living in the house as time passes the farther we hear disappears and ultimately their mother dies leaving the two girls alone. We first meet the two girls as they are really quite elderly and I live in alone following routine sat in their childhood never leaving the house and it’s beautiful surrounding gardens. Both women now feel that they are alone in the world and they end living in a tiny part of a stately home their parents inherited. We learned that they mostly live in the kitchen of the house the rest of the house being shut off in the past by their mother. Without giving any spoilers it’s hard to describe exactly why they live like this, although you do as a reader discover as you read on .
The two women spend their days gardening and tending the garden surrounding the house to provide food for themselves. one day a stranger a young boy comes along and their life changes
I’m a great fan of a dystopian novel and I liked the way that this book adds the element of claustrophobia because of the way these two people are living in an isolated way. I usually want to know what the dystopian event has been and we never do really learn this, although there are elements of climate change Affecting the way that the women garden.

The author has a beautiful flowing writing style in the book was a pleasure to read. There are elements of tension and excitement which peak towards the end of the novel and an unexpected twist.
I like the way the characters developed and their reactions, although potentially quite dramatic seem to be a reaction to their isolated upbringing .
I read a copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an unbiased review. The book is published it was published in the UK on the 30th of January 2025 by random house UK Transworld publishers.

This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com.
It also appear on Amazon and Waterstones

Dreamlike, eerie, enthralling.
LOVED IT, LOVED IT . Due to health issues cannot not but will write a proper review at a later time
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Garden is an interesting book set in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world. It’s an interesting story about survival, and how the garden brings tranquility in the women and a the mysterious boy. Loved it!

An interesting take on a post-apocalyptic world, centred around two sisters, and a young boy. The book uses the abundance, peace and tranquility of the garden as a focal point at a time when you imagine that food is scarce. As the story unravels, you learn more about the sisters, their parents, and snippets about their interaction with the outside world. Even though it was a heavy topic, the story was told in an easy to read way about the day to day life of the sisters.

Thanks to Penguin Random House, NetGalley and the author, Nick Newman, for this ARC in return for an honest review.

The Garden is an atmospheric and contemplative exploration of isolation, routine, and the human need for connection. Newman crafts a setting vivid enough to feel the soil beneath your fingers and to hear the bees buzzing. Perfect for readers who enjoy immersive outdoor environments without the mess of the actual dirt. Our FMC sisters’ have a relationship that oscillates between endearing and exasperating and captures the essence of familial bonds strained by seclusion. With the mysterious arrival of a strange child, their interactions add a layer of intrigue and occasional dark humor, making you question whether he’s a symbolic harbinger of change or really just lost. The conversations are truly the sunshine that brings life to this book. Unfortunately, at times the narrative unfolds at a pace that makes a leisurely garden stroll seem like a sprint. The Garden is a book that will appeal to those who appreciate literary fiction with a strong sense of character. Readers accustomed to fast-paced thrillers might find themselves yearning for more defined plot development..

Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest, unfiltered opinion. As always, it's truly an honor.

Two sisters live alone in a walled garden, cut off from the world outside, until one day, a boy appears. Where has he come from, and what does his appearance mean for the sisters' quiet lives, and the world beyond?

The Garden was gripping from beginning to end. Moving between the present and the past, it kept me guessing throughout and I was completely drawn in by the sisters, their complex relationship and the way their isolated lives shaped them.

Self-sufficiency to keep alive.
What an interesting story, a natural disaster befalls the country and people try to survive.
Two time lines, the first is the present where sisters Evelyn, the older one and Lily struggle to survive according to their Mothers written down rules in the almanac. In the past when the women were children they lived in the rambling mansion with their aristocratic Father and more practical Mother, When the disaster happens the parents disagree and the girls live with their Mother in the kitchen, where they learn to survive.
The garden where the women grow food and flowers is hard work , Evelyn tends to the garden and Lily cooks, they are both getting older and less able. When a stranger appears, Lily wants to kill him but Evelyn can see that he would be useful to them. The sisters learn that life is going on outside the confines of the house and plan what to do if strangers appear. The boy forges a friendship with Lily and the sisters fall out. It is not the strangers that should scare them but another natural disaster.
Will all three of them survive?
Thank you Nick, NetGalley and Penguin for this ARC

A dystopian Eden haunted by past and future
—
In a place outside time and history, two aged sisters toil over their self-sufficient garden, each bringing her strengths to their little shared world: practical Evelyn, gardener, beekeeper, the responsible older sister; dreamy Lily, baker, artist, still the baby after all these decades. Outside the sturdy walls of the garden is a world of horror and danger, that the two girls were warned against by their late mother. The outside world, however, comes crashing in the form of a boy, scrappy and unformed, and with him all the sisters’ fears and hopes come rushing to the fore. Is the boy salvation or death sentence?

In a perfectly judged mix of the rural and the utopian, Newman takes the beats of The Secret Garden, referred to in the book, and weaves a post-apocalyptic fable of survival and love. It talks to how children believe everything their parents tell them, until the lies are dispelled by the truth; how love can manifest as passion or steadfastness, while also being the other side of the coin from hate; and how sharing a world doesn't mean that everything is shared.

A magnificent four stars.

Post apocalyptic, mysterious but also tragic. Kinda culty vibes, the secret garden but dark. I would have liked to know more about what the apocalypse was, but I did enjoy the mystery

Firstly, thank you for allowing me to read this early - however, I am not sure what I actually read.
It was definitely dystopian in vibes, and very much felt like they were cut off from the outside world, however it just kind of meandered around and had no real conclusion or really went anywhere - which could have been the point seeing as they were cut off but nothing really happened.
I found myself more wondering about the outside world, again this could have been Nick Newman's intention but if felt more like he was lost in writing it than intention.
I almost DNF'd on a couple of occasions as I found it difficult to want to pick back up again, and truly wish I had of done as the ending was just very nothing that I didnt see the point and was almost surprised that was the end

*Post apocalyptic
*Sense of foreboding
*Claustrophobic at times
*Switches timelines
*Setting isn't fully explained, more of an observational story of survival, loneliness, secrets, family trauma and control


I'm not sure I know what happened in it. I mostly felt like I was observing two older women go about their day to day routines. They definitely feel cut off from the world and I was never really sure if that was because of a world event or they self isolated. A boy appears in their garden and sets their whole world upside down. The appearance of this boy raises questions for Lily about whether she has wasted her life staying isolated with her sister rather than venturing outside their world. She hates the boy at first but comes to be more curious about him as time goes on. The boy keeps saying "they'll find me" and he doesn't want to go back to "them" but we never really figure out who "them" are. This could be a purposeful move on the authors part to leave the outside world to be whatever the reader imagines it to be but I think this was where I felt I needed more. Thats not a failure of the author merely a personal need for the books I read. The writing was very good and flowed well and I felt the emotional depth of the characters but I just felt out of the loop just like the sisters do and I would have preferred a better idea of the world they inhabited and why they were left in their garden.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this arc.

The Garden is a dystopian post-apocalyptic story that grabbed my attention from start to finish. It is a haunting novel and will stay with me for a long time.

The Garden is about two elderly sisters, Evelyn and Lily, who live in the safety of their controlled and self-sufficient walled garden, believing that the outside world is dangerous and full of threats. Their Mother has passed away, but her influence played a crucial role in their decision to live in isolation – and they have lived in isolation for many years since their Mother’s passing.

Evelyn and Lily dedicate their days to maintaining the self-sufficient walled garden they call home. They believe that isolating themselves inside the walled garden is the safest and most secure way to protect themselves from the perceived dangers of the outside world. Given that living in the walled garden is the only life they've known (for an undetermined period of time), it's entirely understandable why they feel the way they do. They have very limited knowledge of what lies beyond the wall surrounding their isolated home.

The sisters use an almanac to guide their gardening and daily routines. It was their primary source of information and provides essential advice on planting, harvesting, and living self-sufficiently.

Evelyn and Lily’s quiet life changes when a young boy arrives, causing them to question everything they believed about the outside world and changes their daily routine, forcing them outside their comfort zone. Understandably, this is very difficult after being in their own sanctuary for so long, living within the garden’s walls. But it is also a turning point as the boy brings a new perspective, disrupting the sisters' isolated world and leading them to transform their lives in unexpected and profound ways that they could never have imagined. They explore new possibilities, leading to their own personal growth and challenging their long-held beliefs. Their resilience when the boy arrives is remarkable, leading to each of them to grow and transform. The boy changes the sisters' lives, bringing light and change to the world. Just as plants need light to grow, the light the boy brought made them flourish and bloom in ways they never thought possible. Remarkable.

I loved the close bond between the sisters. The sisters are deeply dependent on each other. Their frustrations and fears are evident on every page. I loved how we then saw the characters grow and transform, just like a garden, each one developing in their own unique way. You could feel the sisters' fear and curiosity about the outside world and the fear of the unknown which made for a highly suspenseful and tense read.

The characters are well-developed. Each sister views their isolated life differently, and the boy brings suspense, which kept me on the edge.
The undefined time and place added to the book's mystery, and I felt that not knowing these details allowed us to focus more on the main themes.

The Garden is an engaging and thought-provoking read, full of hidden secrets and suspenseful moments. While the story explores darker themes of fear and isolation, it also is a tale of hope and personal growth. Thank you for writing such a powerful and unforgettable book. I've never read anything like it before. The story and characters have left a lasting impression on me, and I have thought about the themes long after finishing the book. Thank you.

Thank you very much Random House and NetGalley for my advanced copy. This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.

This is a really interesting read, the concept is that two sisters are living alone in a world that has been destroyed. There are dust storms, the threat of the unknown and they are getting older. They are struggling because they are completely self-sufficient with what they grow in the garden that their mother started.

Thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for the pre publication digital copy of this book, in return for an honest review.
I liked the intrigue of the sisters’ stories and lives, one doesn’t know why they are alone caring for the garden, or why they only live in part of the large house. I’m not sure this ever becomes completely clear, unless I missed something. I quite enjoyed the mystery of not knowing, and the focus on the sisters’ relationship with each other and their beliefs about the outside world as well as their parents who are no longer present. It’s quite skilfully written using memories of a time past, and illustrating how each woman’s interpretation of events was different.
This is a very sad book in many places, especially near and at the end, but there’s also some humour as well thank goodness! A slow paced read where the question of what might happen next felt always present.

The Garden is the first adult book by Nick Newman, a pseudonym for acclaimed children’s author Nicholas Bowling. What drew me to the blog tour for this book was the opening six words from the book blurb, In a place and time unknown, it was like an open invitation to enter the world of The Garden and of Evelyn and Lily. This is a world where there has been a catastrophic climate episode, that has seen the sister’s world shrink to just the garden and the kitchen of the house they live in. They are scared of what lies beyond, so when a young boy appears they fear for their existence, and others that may be out there.

The Garden is a fascinating read, set in no specific time or place, which gives it a timeless quality, like a fairytale or fable. Evelyn and Lily have their own timeless quality, we know they are older but not their age, and their memories seem to tangle with reality so it’s sometimes hard to know which is which. The sisters are intriguing, eccentric but have a childhood innocence about them, their world is confined to the garden, and to each other. Their relationship also has a childlike feel, Evelyn the elder sister, taking charge and looking out for the younger, and Lily who defers to Evelyn but has her moments of rebellion. The only other significant relationship was with their mother, who left them an almanac of what to do in the garden each day, each month, and even though she is dead she still has an influence in their lives. When the unknown boy appears I felt like a voyuer watching their relationship change, and in parts fall apart.

The writing of this book is beautiful, the way Nick Newman gets into the psyche of his characters and their relationships. The ethereal prose adds to the timeless quality, the mystery and otherworldly feel to the plot. The garden is like the sister’s Eden, the place that keeps them safe, provides their food, and is their sanctuary from the world outside, who their mother said was evil. The air of mystery, of why the house is boarded up, why they live only in the kitchen, and what happened to bring them to this point adds to the intrigue of the plot, keeping my attention as I tried to work it all out.

I loved the atmosphere of The Garden, it’s unknowm quality of time and place, giving it a fairytale quality of ‘Once Upon a Time. The sister’s and their relationship is at the heart of this book, their bond and how the dynamics change when the unknown boy turns up. This is a haunting, compelling and beautiful read, that kept me thinkng about the characters long after I finished reading.

I have found this to be one of those books that sits with you long after you finish it! And the more that time has gone on, the more I've understood and enjoyed the darkness of it all!!

it's also one of those books that you're better off going into knowing not so much about, so you don't have any preconceived ideas of how the story should flow. You just let the sisters, Evelyn and Lily, have their story told for you as you you watch these elderly sisters living a very restricted life, and spend the days tending the garden they've known since childhood. That routine is shattered by the discovery of a young boy, and that's when more is revealed about their past and why they are so cut off from the outside world.

Really well written, often shocking and emotional, it was a really absorbing and quite different read. Highly recommended!

I was sent a copy of The Garden by Nick Newman to read and review by NetGalley. This has to be my favourite book of the year so far - it was my sixth. In fact I think I will be hard pushed to find one I like more during the whole year – which is saying something! Beautifully written, tender and evocative, this is exactly the sort of novel that I love to immerse myself in. I really don’t know what more I can add – just read and enjoy!!!

Nick Newman's *The Garden* is a thought-provoking novel that blends mystery, drama, and introspection within the confines of a beautifully crafted garden. The story follows the protagonist, a person struggling with deep personal turmoil, who finds solace in the nurturing space of the garden. As they work to tend to the space, they also unearth emotional growth and transformation, symbolizing a journey toward self-healing.

Newman's prose is both poetic and sharp, and he skillfully uses the garden setting to mirror the protagonist's inner world. The vivid descriptions of flora and nature serve as a backdrop for a larger exploration of life, loss, and the search for purpose. The slow unfolding of the mystery at the heart of the novel keeps the reader intrigued, while the character-driven narrative ensures a connection to the emotional depth of the story.

*The Garden* is a contemplative and beautifully written work that will resonate with readers who appreciate literary fiction that blends personal discovery with nature’s calming influence. It’s a gentle reminder of how, sometimes, tending to the smallest spaces in our lives can lead to the greatest changes.

This was very unique read for me, it was a very well written book and the mystery kept me immersed throughout.