The Garden by Nick Newman is a dystopian gothic story about two elderly sisters who live in a secluded walled garden, cut off from the outside world, which is much changed. The sisters have been hidden away from the goings on of the dystopian and somewhat desolate world outside, scared and forbidden to venture beyond the garden’s walls. They spend day after day working on maintaining the garden, and the life that they have built there since childhood. But one day, they find a boy hiding in the boarded up house, and their secluded world of peaceful monotony is turned on its head. 

This book was utterly wonderful, I was drawn to it by the premise, a walled garden in a dystopian world. The sisters living a secluded, idyllic but sheltered life nestled within a potentially dangerous dystopia. This sounded like a fairytale spin on the dystopian genre, and it really was! But more than that this book was a meditation on trauma and grief. It poignantly explored the rituals and systems we set up for ourselves, or that are set up for us by a loved one, to avoid having to face heartache and trauma. The stories we tell ourselves to maintain some control over the heartbreaking and difficult aspects of life, and that allow us to navigate and cope with them, or avoid coping with them. It emotionally shows the way in which rituals, such as working on the garden and maintaining their life, can act as the life ring that keeps us from sinking into grief. It also does a wonderful job of exploring sisterhood, and family relations which depend on a duty to one another, sometimes to a detriment, and the fallout that entails. It explores family relationships, and dutiful bonds, the difficulties, and problems with sheltering loved ones, and  the grief you feel for the life you chose to live, and the life you could have picked, and the grief of the in between. 

This is an incredibly well written book, with poignant and reflective topics that are dealt with in an emotional and careful way. 

If you like dystopian books, but are looking for a meaningful and gothic twist, this is a great read for you. Similarly if you like books that tackle emotions, family bonds, sisterhood, and the unknown and are looking for something a little different, this is a wonderful read that I highly recommend. 

Pick this up if you like: gothic fairytale, dystopia, sisterhood, grief, beauty in the mundane, coping with trauma, books with women, books with older women. 

Thank you to NetGalley, the Author & Publisher for providing me with an ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review.