The Garden is a dark and haunting story about two sisters, Evelyn and Lily, who live alone in their old family home, caring for their late mother’s garden; when a strange boy shows up, disrupting their quiet world. The book shifts between their past and present, revealing fragments of their childhood memories and present-day isolation.

The story has a slow build but leads to a powerful, emotional ending. It will suit readers who enjoy gothic fiction, slow-paced mysteries, and reads that leave room for interpretation.

I really enjoyed reading this book which has a gothic feel to it.

The book is about two sisters who literally live in their own wee world. Their days are spent tending to the garden created by their mother after a natural disaster of some sort as well as looking after their bees. The sisters live in one room only of the stately home that was their childhood home.

The sisters live happily (or not?) until a boy appears one day. We do not know who he is or where he has come from. That’s up to the reader to decide with the information provided.

The story moves back and forth between the sisters’ present day and their childhood to provide a little information to the reader about what happened and why the sisters live as they do. A lot of the blanks have to be filled in by the reader which I enjoyed.

History then repeats itself. What will happen and will there be a happy ending? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

A very enjoyable read. If you enjoyed ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson I think that you would enjoy this book.

I have given the book 4/5 stars rather than 5/5* as there were a few points made in the book that I would have liked expanded on and the ending of the book seemed a bit rushed. I highly recommend reading this book, though. A very enjoyable read.

I received an advance copy of this e-book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I love what people are bringing to adult dystopia these days, and this story of two elderly sisters, living their moldering house and tending their garden, not knowing what, if anything, lies beyond the walls really appealed to me.

Evelyn and Lily are such different people, shaped by how they were each raised, and I found I understood them both, Eve for wanting to keep control of her surroundings and Lily for wanting to know what might lie beyond the walls.

While this was a little slow in the middle, the ending was devastatingly sad, and gave me, I felt, enough answers as the sister's lives are changed forever. I truly had to put the book down for a solid five minute crying session.

After a catasthropic event, Evelyn, Lily and their strict mother are forced to live in limited areas of their home and tend to their garden most of the time.
With flashbacks, we get a sense of how life had been for them, and finally, when a boy shows up, things take a different turn.
I was in a neutral mood when I started this book, in no particular inclination towards any expectations.
I loved this book. It has a cinematic quality, it will probably be made into a film as soon as the gods of filmmaking become aware of it.
That is not to say it is not literary. On the contrary, Newman’s writing has immense merit.
I cannot say that I understood everything about the twist and what might have happened, and what and if the ideas here are metaphors, analogies, but the feel of the book and the whole reading experience are awesome. The characters need to make some tough decisions, and I was happy not to know all the answers for every question, but had I understood the finale and the twist a bit better then I would have enjoyed it 10% more.
A very cool read.

The Garden started strongly. I found the premise interesting and the world building elements were well handled, so we got a continually building understanding of the sisters and their situation. Nonetheless, I did still have a few questions that were not answered, which made the ending a tad unsatisfactory for me. After such a slow buildup things seemed to conclude a little too abruptly. Regardless, the book had plenty of atmosphere and the pacing was generally well handled, which kept me wanting to read on. The two sisters both came across well as fully developed characters, but the boy who enters the garden felt a little less well defined, and many of my lingering questions at the end related to him and his motivation. Overall, though, it was a pleasing and original tale, so I am giving it four stars.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it very hard to stop reading and found time getting away from me! I haven't read anything like it before and I was hooked all the way through.

It's an unsettling story which follows two elderly sisters who live together, shut off from the outside world. They have been content with their quiet lives tending to the garden of the large house they live in, keeping bees and growing food. But things slowly start to change, and the outside world starts to creep in. The sisters have to face up to the fact that things are changing and seem to be falling apart.

The chapters go back and forth between the sisters as elderly women and their lives as children, which helps to give more background.

There is a creepy, Gothic feeling to the story which I really enjoyed. It kept me guessing all the way through as well and I'm glad I had the chance to read it. I would definitely read more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book.

It is the story of Evelyn and Lily, two sisters who live in a house with a garden but never leave it. They are secluded from the world and never see anybody until one day, when Evelyn will start to notice that some of her stuff have moved…

This book is classified as sci-fi/fantasy, but I would say that it’s more of a mystery/horror book. I may be wrong though.

I had a great experience while reading this book! I often thought that it was really weird and that I couldn’t wait to read more to finally understand everything.

There was an eerie atmosphere throughout the book that was quite enjoyable.

The characters were a bit off sometimes, and I enjoyed that I sided with all the characters at different times in the book .

There was a lot of suspense and the chapters occurring in the past, really helped with that. I quite enjoyed them!

This is a slow paced book, with chapters that are not too long, third person narration, and we see what is happening through Evelyn’s eyes.

Didn’t know what to expect from this book but the story was very unique with realistic characters and an engrossing plot. The characters were well rounded and felt very realistic
This is mysterious with some sci fi elements and is well written and quite emotional

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc

I really enjoyed this. The writing style is easy and the dialogue between the women flows well. Some sort of global crisis has occurred. We are not told what, but great storms bringing choking dust occur now and then. The women's mother has caused them to live in a small portion of a big house, within a large, enclosed garden which the women are entrusted to tend using a manual written by the mother. A boy turns up and suddenly the outside world intrudes in a threatening way. I was not clear what had happened in the final chapter but I had a good guess. This is a quirky and original novel and I would recommend it.