The Walled Garden

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.

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).

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.

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.

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