Girl in the Garden

"Soulful and exquisite, this novel blooms with the beauty of humanity."--Shelf Awareness

"In this exceptional novel, Melanie Wallace conveys the depths and complexities of life in a seemingly uneventful New England village. The Girl in the Garden strikingly affirms Eudora Welty's belief 'that one place understood helps us understand all other places better.'"--Ron Rash, author of Serena and Above the Waterfall

"Powerful...A quiet, contemplative novel that builds slowly and leaves a lasting impact."--Publishers Weekly

When June arrives on the coast of New England, baby in arms, an untrustworthy man by her side, Mabel--who rents them a cabin--senses trouble. A few days later, the girl and her child are abandoned.

June is soon placed with Mabel's friend, Iris, in town, and her life becomes entwined with a number of locals who have known each other for decades: a wealthy recluse with a tragic past; a widow in mourning; a forsaken daughter returning for the first time in years, with a stranger in tow; and a kindly WWII veteran who serves as the town's sage. Surrounded by the personal histories and secrets of others, June finds the way forward for herself and her son becoming determined by the others' pasts, including loves--and crimes--from years ago.

In vivid, nuanced prose, Melanie Wallace--"a writer with a tender regard for the marginal, the missing, and the lost" (Hilary Mantel)--explores the time-tested bonds of a small community, the healing power of friendship and love, and whether the wrongs of the past can ever be made right.

About the author

MELANIE WALLACE is the author of The Housekeeper, which was long-listed for the Orange Prize, and Blue Horse Dreaming, which was long-listed (in translation, as Sauvages) for France's Prix Femina. Born and raised in New Hampshire, she now lives with her husband in Greece.

Summary

A “soulful and exquisite” (Shelf Awareness) novel about an abandoned young woman and her infant son, the townspeople who provide them with shelter, and the secrets that all of them are keeping.
“In this exceptional novel, Melanie Wallace conveys the depths and complexities of life in a seemingly uneventful New England village. The Girl in the Garden strikingly affirms Eudora Welty’s belief ‘that one place understood helps us understand all other places better.’?”—Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena
When June arrives on the coast of New England, baby in arms, an untrustworthy man by her side, Mabel—who rents them a cabin—senses trouble. A few days later, the girl and her child are abandoned.
June is soon placed with Mabel’s friend, Iris, in town, and her life becomes entwined with a number of locals who have known each other for decades: a wealthy recluse with a tragic past; a widow in mourning; a forsaken daughter returning for the first time in years, with a stranger in tow; and a kindly WWII veteran who serves as the town’s sage. Surrounded by the personal histories and secrets of others, June finds the way forward for herself and her son becoming determined by the others’ pasts, including loves—and crimes—from years ago.
In vivid, nuanced prose, Melanie Wallace—“a writer with a tender regard for the marginal, the missing, and the lost” (Hilary Mantel)—explores the time-tested bonds of a small community, the healing power of friendship and love, and whether the wrongs of the past can ever be made right.
“Powerful…A quiet, contemplative novel that builds slowly and leaves a lasting impact.”—Publishers Weekly

Additional text

Praise for The Girl in the Garden   “Readers will come to understand and love [Wallace’s characters] as they begin to understand and love themselves and each other…Wallace deftly handle their interactions with one another, and her ability to share how those interactions become meaningful as they grow to know and trust each other. Indeed, the menagerie of characters are at the heart of this story, and Wallace’s treatment of their growing and healing relationships lend themselves to deep interest and high praise… the girl in the garden, June, serves as a catalyst for contemplating the themes Wallace is concerned with: alienation, family, relationships, loss, love, and the courage life often demands—all of which are handled poignantly and powerfully. If there were a library shelf for Resilience or Human Spirit, The Girl in the Garden would surely be shelved there.” —NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS   "Powerful. . . . The book focuses on the resiliency of the human spirit. Wallace makes use of long, unconfined sentences to build the many distinctive voices and has a knack for teasing out important details. This is a quiet, contemplative novel that builds slowly and leaves a lasting impact." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY   "Wallace’s poignant novel is, at once, a portrait of a small, coastal, New England town; a bit of a mystery; and a completely engaging study of an odd mix of characters whose lives become intricately intertwined. . . . Wallace writes with poetic sensitivity as she delves into their lives and backstories, quickly engaging the reader in this close-knit community and the many secrets it harbors." —BOOKLIST   "Lovely. . . [A] sensitive salvation story." —KIRKUS REVIEWS  “In this exceptional novel, Melanie Wallace conveys the depths and complexities of life in a seemingly uneventful New England village. The Girl in the Garden strikingly affirms  Eudora Welty’s belief ‘that one place understood helps us understand all other places better.’” —Ron Rash, author of Serena and Above the Waterfall   “Wallace warmly envelops the reader in the essence of her setting… The Girl in the Garden is populated with scarred characters; some carry visible scars while others harbor hidden ones. Each suffers on the fringes of society because of these scars. But Wallace shows how healing acceptance can be. Soulful and exquisite, this novel blooms with the beauty of humanity.”—Shelf Awareness   “Real suffering and real compassion make for a believable, winning tale."—Washington Independent Review of Books   “The Girl in the Garden is a novel by Melanie Wallace that proves the kindness of strangers can heal wounds that exist far below the surface… Wallace finds a way to thoughtfully intertwine the characters and the effect the have on each other’s lives.”—PULSE Magazine

Product details

• Authors: Melanie Wallace
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.01.2018
• EAN: 9781328745712
• ISBN: 978-1-328-74571-2
• No. of pages: 240
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; WOMEN'S LITERATURE: LITERATURE/FICTION, FICTION: Literary, LITERATURE: WOMEN'S LITERATURE, FICTION: General, FICTION: War & Military, LITERATURE: GENERAL FICTION