The Garden by Nick Newman is a dystopian gothic story about two elderly sisters who live in a secluded walled garden, cut off from the outside world, which is much changed. The sisters have been hidden away from the goings on of the dystopian and somewhat desolate world outside, scared and forbidden to venture beyond the garden’s walls. They spend day after day working on maintaining the garden, and the life that they have built there since childhood. But one day, they find a boy hiding in the boarded up house, and their secluded world of peaceful monotony is turned on its head.

This book was utterly wonderful, I was drawn to it by the premise, a walled garden in a dystopian world. The sisters living a secluded, idyllic but sheltered life nestled within a potentially dangerous dystopia. This sounded like a fairytale spin on the dystopian genre, and it really was! But more than that this book was a meditation on trauma and grief. It poignantly explored the rituals and systems we set up for ourselves, or that are set up for us by a loved one, to avoid having to face heartache and trauma. The stories we tell ourselves to maintain some control over the heartbreaking and difficult aspects of life, and that allow us to navigate and cope with them, or avoid coping with them. It emotionally shows the way in which rituals, such as working on the garden and maintaining their life, can act as the life ring that keeps us from sinking into grief. It also does a wonderful job of exploring sisterhood, and family relations which depend on a duty to one another, sometimes to a detriment, and the fallout that entails. It explores family relationships, and dutiful bonds, the difficulties, and problems with sheltering loved ones, and the grief you feel for the life you chose to live, and the life you could have picked, and the grief of the in between.

This is an incredibly well written book, with poignant and reflective topics that are dealt with in an emotional and careful way.

If you like dystopian books, but are looking for a meaningful and gothic twist, this is a great read for you. Similarly if you like books that tackle emotions, family bonds, sisterhood, and the unknown and are looking for something a little different, this is a wonderful read that I highly recommend.

Pick this up if you like: gothic fairytale, dystopia, sisterhood, grief, beauty in the mundane, coping with trauma, books with women, books with older women.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review.
This review will also be posted to StoryGraph, and an amended version on my social media.

I was asked to review by NetGalley - I have not read any distopia for a while so this was a welcome change.

This is the story of Evelyn and Lily, elderly sisters who live in the kitchen and garden of a large, house which no one lives in the rest of this house. Some terrible thing has happened as there appears to have been storms that have covered the land.

Then one day a stranger arrives, which changes their lives as things happen that changes their lives.

Well written and it is one of those books that the readers is left thinking, with untold reasons and well make up your own minds.

Recommended read.

The Garden follows elderly sisters Evelyn and Lily, who have been living alone in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic world. They have grown up isolated and afraid of the world outside of the garden, and there is the lingering presence of their long dead mother. Unexpectedly, a boy from the world outside arrives and everything proceeds to go wrong.

This is part dystopian, part family drama. Evelyn has been following her mama's words to the letter whilst Lily pushed back a lot, even as a child. It is clearly shown that the impact of their dysfunctional family had upon the women as they grow up. That is more the focus of the story, very close, very personal kind of uncomfortableness. Mama is very clearly implied to have verbally abusive tendencies, let's say, and thus what their mother has said cannot be trust. But it is all the girls have.

I enjoyed the mystery of it. We don't truly find out what has happened in the world but clearly it has been planned out well. It is like slice of life horror with an end-of-the-world backdrop. Nick Newman weaved the family drama so well, that even though not a lot physically happened, I was so engaged and immersed in the machinations of these sisters.

This story had no beginning and no end...
From the very beginning I was struggling to figure out what era we are in, how old the characters are, how long has passed...I believe it could have been the point, but I wasn't able to properly picture any of the scenes or characters and I find it quite important.
I felt that this story lacked structure and purpose. Nothing made sense really.Characters lacked depth or any definition. A lot of questions were left unanswered.
I was tempted to DNF it on several occasions, but I powered through to be met by a very underwhelming anti-climax kind of ending to the story that really had no end...

The Garden is a beautifully written piece of literary fiction, a claustrophobic and thought provoking read.

This dystopian story is more character driven than high concept, and feels fresh and unique. Two elderly sisters who live in their mothers shadow, and in each others pockets, with wildly different perspectives and experiences. At times macabre, but mostly discomforting and, sometimes, strangely relatable. The story has a gentle pace, building to a more intense ending. The writing is mesmerising, emotional and rich with imagery.

I’d highly recommend for anyone looking for an immersive, moving, contemplative and chilling read. 4.5⭐️

Thank you Random House UK for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

I really liked the beginning of the novel, I liked the mystery and atmosphere. I wish it had ended up being a bit more speculative, I was expecting to find out more about the world beyond the walls.

This book will without a doubt be one of my favourites of the year. Piranesi meets I Who Have Never Known Men, Nick Newman has crafted something truly fantastic - a sinister and claustrophobic tale that subtly sneaks its tendrils into you. Definitely one I’ll be recommending far and wide, the tension that slowly grows between all three characters is masterfully done.

Times have changed – I doubt that children nowadays would comply with a parent’s injunctions to the extent that these two elderly sisters have done for so many years. Amazing what a combination of love, obedience and fear will achieve. Dystopian, with a hefty ladleful of horror thrown in, this novel reminded me of Lockdown! The decrees to Stay Home, Do Not Fraternise, are redolent of how the sisters live, walled-in and warned-off, never leaving the kitchen to enjoy their home, never to go beyond the garden, never to let anyone in. But a boy does get in.
Hints of why they are so confined are subtly woven into the storyline – which was a bit slow at times – but you know what will be found when an apocalyptic storm and invaders compel the ladies to seek sanctuary elsewhere in the sealed-off stately home.
The resolution is an elegant portrayal of escape, freedom, compassion, gratitude: how fitting that the boy becomes a guardian.
The writing has undercurrents of tension throughout, with acute characterisations and dialogue. Nick Newman's evocative images of the garden, the bees, the lack of knowledge of the world beyond, activities trapped in decades past, are conveyed oh-so-well.

This is a slightly odd literary novel, which I enjoyed, for the most, a great deal. It had a slightly suffocating, claustrophobic feel to it, set within the confines of a walled garden home, where the two elderly sisters, Evelyn and Lily have tended their vegetable and flower garden in this strange post-apocalyptic world. Their days’ jobs tending to the land are ruled via their dead mother’s Almanac, and the ghosts of the past feel forever present. It is both Gothic in feel, and dystopian-esque (which is usually a genre I avoid), but I was enticed by the blurb’s description of the eccentric sisters and fancied something a bit different - and I’m glad I was.

It’s a beautiful piece of literary fiction, with the core of the novel being very much about Lily and Evelyn’s dysfunctional, but endearing relationship. Their solitary world is suddenly rocked when a young boy is suddenly found to have breached the walls, and brings with him all their fears of life beyond their comforting seclusion.

I don’t want to add any spoilers, only that for me it was very much a page turner with a very unsatisfactory ending. It felt almost like someone else had written the last few chapters. It sadly takes it down from a 4 star, to a 3.5 overall, but I would still recommend it to people with this caveat.

Nevertheless, thank you to Random House and NetGalley and for providing an ARC

4.5 rounded down

This quiet dystopia alternates between the present, where elderly sisters Evelyn and Lily live in complete isolation from the rest of the world, and their childhood.

For years, the sisters have lived the same routine, governed by the Almanac that their mother compiled during their childhood. The garden provides everything the sisters need to survive, and they are content: the world outside their walls holds no temptation for them. However, something happens that breaks this harmony.

The characters are eccentric but not unrelatable, despite their unusual upbringing and social isolation. They have distinct personalities and so it's very interesting to see how they react to the events in the book and how they deal with the conflicts that arise.

It's a dark, moving, and contemplative novel. Low on action but still suspenseful. Some elements of the dystopia are left open-ended by design, which for me didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story but could potentially frustrate readers who live to find out all the answers!

A very unusual book, set in some dystopia following a climate catastrophe (I think). Lily and Evelyn had been living with their parents in a large house, then things changed, their staff and everyone else left and their mother 'took charge' to keep them safe, but in doing so condemns them to live out their lives to her instructions. They focussed on their garden, which would be the source of food.

The book shows us their life, and their past lives, in a very gentle but determined way so that the horror of their situation builds. And as another storm seems to threaten, they will be pushed to try to keep themselves safe and alive, which is hard as they are now old women, becoming frail and Lily in particular is increasingly dissatisfied with her existence.

Its an enjoyable read that will keep me thinking for quite some time. The end is not tied up neatly with a bow, which suits this genre, as the pattern of life continues. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and Transworld Publishers for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This book was *so* good. The Garden is a haunting dystopian tale that locks you in from the opening scene and leaves you quickly turning the pages thereafter.

I won’t give anything away but while the The Garden is the focus for the story, Newman’s world-building around it is so well presented but equally offers the reader an opportunity to interpret in their own way the post-apocalyptic world in which Evelyn and Lily - the keepers of the garden - find themselves in.

I can already see this being one of my top reads of the year.

The Garden by Nick Newman is a novel about the lives of 2 sisters Evelyn and Lily who live in a derelict estate and spend their days tending to.the garden.

This was an interesting novel and I did enjoy it but I feel.there were a lot of things that were left unanswered.

The book is very well written and the characters feel real. This is the first book I have read by this author but I will be looking out for more.

In a garden at the end of the world, two elderly sisters diligently follow the ancient almanac left by their mother telling them when to plant and when to harvest. It doesn't matter that the seasons no longer arrive when expected or that Evelyn knows more than the crumbling pages or that Lily has never really taken the instructions seriously. They are all that is left in the world, reliant on each other and their garden, an oasis in the desolate dusty sea of a dying world. Until they aren't. A dirty, ragged boy appears in the garden. But it's not just that he's arrived, it's that he's still alive, and his presence shatters their carefully constructed reality.

A gradually stifling story that hooked me immediately. At first, the garden feels like a gentle utopia clinging on in a dystopian world, but with each turn of the page the atmosphere becomes more taut and suffocating. The story switches between when the sisters were younger, living in the house with their parents as hints of outside trouble start to filter through, and to when they are alone and elderly, scraping a living from the garden, holding on to the fears instilled in them by their mother.
This book reminded me of Metronome, two people isolated from a collapsing outside world, and, like that book, you won't get any answers to what is really causing the situation. It's much more a focused on the sisters - the tenderness of their relationship mixed with the suffocating isolation they suffer and influence their parents behaviour continues to have on them.

The Garden by Nick Newman | Published date: Jan 30 2025

So, this was a quite unsettling and atmospheric novel, with hints of gothic horror. The story follows two elderly sisters, Evelyn and Lily, who live in a mysterious walled garden and their lives go by routines established by their late mother. You get only a slight idea that this is a post-apocalyptic world and can only imagine what is beyond those walls. Suddenly, their isolated existence is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious boy, and their carefully ordered world begins to unsettle, revealing secrets and a reality more disturbing than they ever imagined.
I can’t say I didn’t enjoy this story. However, with its slow-burning narrative and the writer’s explorations of themes like isolation, obedience, and the fragility of human perception, I had a bit of trouble getting into it. A great read for fans of horror with a touch of the surreal.

This was an unusual and quite haunting story of Evelyn and Lily, two elderly sisters living in the kitchen of their grand old house. in what one assumes to be a post apocalyptic world. The author manages to create both a sense of domesticity and dread particularly when they find a boy in what they thought was their secure home and garden. Little glimpses of their life before are hinted at and there are some shocking events, but the book has an almost dreamlike, or maybe nightmare, quality and I feeI I will be thinking about for some time.
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

The Garden is an effective addition to the post apocalyptic genre. Climate change has led to hot seasons punctuated by rare but savage dust storms in a setting that, though undefined, seems to be the south of England. Evelyn and Lily are two ageing sisters who have not emerged from their country mansion in what might be fifty years or more. They live entirely in the kitchen of the big house and tend to the house gardens which keep them self-sufficient. They are strangely child-like, still completely dominated by the rules and routines of their long-dead mother, who chose to hole up in the house and barricade herself and her daughters from an increasingly dangerous outside world as the extreme weather led to desperate behaviour by those who survived. Every day they tend to the garden, following an increasingly unreliable almanac devised by their mother. They live by the rules she made when they were still in their teens, and as the older of the two sisters Evelyn shoulders the heavy burden of shielding her sister from the horrors she remembers happening and the other nameless horrors - "men's things" - that their mother has filled her head with.

Into this unquestioned day to day existence of survival and sibling closeness comes a most unwelcome incursion in the form of a boy from the outside world, a boy who will grow up to be a man. His very existence, never mind his actual presence, threatens the fragile survival narrative that Evelyn has internalised, and then their very existence comes under threat too as the outside world which has rallied after all comes calling.

There are multiple layers to this story, which keep the reader engrossed and guessing both at the narrative level and the psychological one. I had two maiden aunts who were completely under their mother's thumb and I couldn't stop seeing parallels in the depiction of two elderly women in arrested development thanks to a domineering mother whose influence extends beyond her death. The world they live in, ravaged by a climate disaster of man's making, is all too easy to imagine coming true. And the savagery that survival all too often entails is all the more horrifying for being alluded to rather than explicitly described and dwelt upon. So the ending, on a note of hope, was very welcome.

This is very well written and expertly paced for the most part. It is a compulsive read and is recommended.

What is absolutely clear is that Nick Newman knows how to deliver a very gripping story! He unfurled his narrative line around me, leaving me with no other option but to go along for the ride! What felt very eerie for me was the familiarity of the story! As if I've read this story before! I think what made me feel this was his choice of timeless themes/location/characters. Take the house - it is the quintessential English country manor house, with an impressive facade, imposing staircase leading to the upper floors - and one can already imagine the balls/parties alluded at in the narrative. And then you have the garden with its own lake and sprawling grounds encase by an impenetrable wall! Of course everything happening behind closed doors seems plausible. The timelessness extends to the characters: the 2 sisters: one dreamy and apparently not concerned with the world around her, the other down to earth and overly controlling. The mother, a damaged and controlling person, wrecking the lives of those she was suppose to love ...my heart absolutely ached for the sisters.

*Now that I've had a few days to think about it, I've changed my rating from 4 to 5 stars. I also think that it gave me a mixture of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and I Capture the Castle vibes. The Garden is a weird mixture of the two, set in a post-global warming era!

I really thought the blurb made this book sound intriguing and dark. However it just wasn't my cup of tea. I love reading thrillers but unfortunately I found this book really lacking a plot. The premise is there and I kept thinking 'okay this must be leading to something...' but it never really materialised into a big reveal or twist.

I enjoyed this dystopia, about two old women living in their secluded house in fear of what lies beyond the wall, well enough, but it took far too long to get going for me.

The most interesting part was the author's slight subversion of the dystopian trope of 'normal' protagonists trying to avoid whatever craziness is now at large in the world (in books such as McCarthy's 'The Road'). As The Garden progresses, we are forced to consider whether the protagonists might stranger than whatever is outside their garden.

An interesting book but never quite caught fire for me.