The Night Garden
A Novel
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4.2 • 31 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
For fans of Sarah Addison Allen, Aimee Bender, and Alice Hoffman, The Night Garden is a luminous novel of love, forgiveness, and the possibilities that arise when you open your heart.
Nestled in the bucolic town of Green Valley in upstate New York, the Pennywort farm appears ordinary, yet at its center lies something remarkable: a wild maze of colorful gardens that reaches beyond the imagination. Local legend says that a visitor can gain answers to life’s most difficult problems simply by walking through its lush corridors.
Yet the labyrinth has never helped Olivia Pennywort, the garden’s beautiful and enigmatic caretaker. She has spent her entire life on her family’s land, harboring a secret that forces her to keep everyone at arm’s length. But when her childhood best friend, Sam Van Winkle, returns to the valley, Olivia begins to question her safe, isolated world and wonders if she at last has the courage to let someone in. As she and Sam reconnect, Olivia faces a difficult question: Is the garden maze that she has nurtured all of her life a safe haven or a prison?
Praise for Lisa Van Allen’s The Wishing Thread
“Reader to reader, knitter to knitter: You’re going to love this book.”—Debbie Macomber
“Whimsical . . . great for fans of Sarah Addison Allen and Alice Hoffman.”—Library Journal
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rubinate narrates Van Allen's complex, character-driven story about love and loss. Her methodical voice is well suited to the main character of Olivia, a wildly successful New England gardener whose secrets cause her to keep her neighbors at arm's length. Rubinate also does a fine job portraying May, a pregnant teenager who finds refuge at Olivia's farm. May's childish defiance, combined with a very adult ability to manipulate others, make her a force to be reckoned with. Rubinate's performance is less convincing for the two main male characters: Sam, the boy next door who returns home after being physically and emotionally damaged in his years outside Green Valley; and Olivia's father Arthur, whose bitterness over loss and the mistakes of his past have made him an eccentric recluse. Overall, Rubinate's voice is quiet, gentle, and slightly breathy, its sense of wide-eyed wonder making room for the magical realism that infuses Van Allen's story. A Ballantine paperback.
Customer Reviews
Thoughtful and metaphorical
This is an interesting book that is not specifically exciting but definitely full of metaphor about humanity. It got a little annoying when the characters would continue to grapple with the same issues over and over but clarity is eventually gained. This is a perfect book for a mellow fall read.
GREAT BOOK!
I love books by Sarah Addison Allen and stumbled upon this book - and I loved it too! It's a really sweet story with a beautiful message.