The Garden: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Something terrible has happened on the declining estate where two elderly sisters live. Beyond the stone wall surrounding it lies something so terrible that Evelyn and Lily won’t even look in that direction.

More disturbing things are happening. The food seeds and flowers they plant are blooming late. The seasons aren’t right. Something’s wrong with the weather. The sisters live and sleep in the kitchen because most of the house is boarded up to protect them from “man things.”

And now, someone or something is creeping around their property.

The sisters appear to have survived alone in the decades since their father left their mother alone with two young children. With bitter determination, she turned the estate into a fortress. A homemade almanac serves as a kind of bible for their planting and harvesting. Evelyn, the more responsible sister, struggles to carry out their dead mother’s instructions while Lily behaves very much like a child. Now, unforeseen events force them to decide whether to remain in their precarious state or venture beyond the wall into possibly greater danger.

With The Garden, Nick Newman rises above the mediocrity of most apocalypse novelists. He has done a masterful job of maintaining a balance of mystery, suspense, and character portraits. We see everything through the sisters’ eyes and memories. Even more intriguing is the possibility that Evelyn’s memory may not be so sharp as it once was. That keeps us turning the pages to find out the truth.

Discovering a new author is always a joy when the writing turns out to be worthy of my attention. Despite a single offensive word in the narrative, I am pleased to give The Garden a five-star rating.