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.

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.