We hear about the girl’s relationships with her mother and father and their relationship with each other. Most important is Murat, the Albanian-born Corfiot expat who becomes the novel’s eponymous gardener after answering Hassie’s notice in the post office window. A ll these details were public property, for Helen was as open as the day, and held that scandals are only increased by hushing then up. It’s a simple story, episodic, with no danger or too much heartbreak; just a tale of place, community, and time helping to heal a person’s heartbreak, broken relationships, and loss. The books featured on this site are aimed primarily at readers aged 13 or above and therefore you must be 13 years or over to sign up to our newsletter.

Those who enjoy a faster pace in their reading, and do not care for many descriptions of place, would do well not to pick this one up. I also hope that this book will serve up a little insight into rural life to those who have not had the pleasure of working in a country garden. The first half of The Gardener is very much like the long, hot summer of 2020, in that virtually nothing happens.Reading a few reviews after I’d finish this rather lovely novel I was surprised to see so many negative ones. When this took place, around the fifth century, edicts were passed and the old sacred trees and groves, that were worshipped in “the old religion” were cut down.

Because when I read The Gardener, I found the messages within had the Matt Haig brand of philosophical ether that anaesthetises rather than stimulates. The novel is nested between two short letters to an initially unidentified addressee dated “March 2019”. Its grand name, Knight’s Fee, as Hassie later learns, is a “foolish gentrification” of the original Wight’s (man’s) Folly.

Although neither of them has any horticultural knowledge, they work together to weed the overgrown garden beds, mow the lawns, repair broken trellises and plant new plants. Sarah Stewart introduces readers to an engaging and determined young heroine, whose story is told through letters written home, while David Small's illustrations beautifully evoke the Depression-era setting. Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds, plenty of stationery, and a passion for gardening to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. It is a shame, I think, that Vickers chose to set it in 2019; I can imagine its events unfolding in the summer of last year with virtually no changes necessary other than masks on Hassie and Murat as they wander around the garden centre.

Here she could see clear-cut letters at the ends of the rows, and, referring to her slip, realized that it was not here she must look. These two remarkable gardeners, dreamers, builders and plantsmen deserve my sincere thanks for allowing me to join them in their garden. Struggling through Conrad and bewildered by Browning, thinking I was engaged with a more worthy, higher art, I had little regard for the good old story. they were easily the best part of the novel and i would‘ve enjoyed The Gardener more if it had actually focused on the Gardener part more. Once in the city, Lydia Grace begins brightening up the neighborhood and her uncle’s bakery with flowers.Elfine’s author had sent me a breathy synopsis of her heroine’s adventures which were to be published in a ‘Bumper’ volume. You'll find my personal diary of gardening along with my favourite seasonal plants and timely reminders of things you might want to tackle each month. The Gardening Book gives you the basics to grow over 100 popular flowers, foods, shrubs, houseplants and more - each one has a clear, concise, format: what you need, timing, method, and step-by-step photos, all on one spread. Naturally, as the economy starts to recover in May 1936, Lydia Grace informs her parents: "I saw Uncle Jim almost smile today.