The Garden by Nick Newman
2/18/25; 320 pages
G.P. Putnam's Sons
The Garden by Nick Newman is a highly recommended dystopian fairy tale-esque literary novel with gothic/horror elements.
Evelyn and Lily, two elderly sisters, live only in the kitchen of a decrepit manor and spend all their time caring for the garden, fruit trees, and tending the bees behind the stone walls that keep them secluded from the outside world. They have lived in isolation for years. Evelyn carefully follows the instructions of the almanac written by their mother, even though the information in it no longer resembles the world they live in where dust storms are always a threat. At the same time Lily takes the daily chores leisurely and prefers to dance or play. When a nameless young man is found hiding in the house it changes the dynamics of the relationship between the sisters.
In this eerie, slow-paced atmospheric novel it is clear from the start that something isn't entirely right with the sisters. Their life-long relationship is dysfunctional. There is character development but in their completely isolated and dystopian world their personalities are odd, childlike, and still subservient to their deceased mother orders. They are also still acting out their roles from childhood. Their deceased mother is almost another character and flashbacks to their childhood intimate she was likely abusive.
For readers many questions will quickly arise and most won't be
answered. No location or time period is ever mentioned and it's likely
the sisters don't know. We have no clear understanding why everything
from outside the wall is to be feared. Some of the sister's ritualistic behavior is nonsensical. We know that huge dust storms can occur. We know they have been instructed to fear men. The tension increases when Evelyn begins to suspect someone is on their land, while the horror elements are slowly uncovered in a natural development of the narrative.
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