Melanie Wallace (The Housekeeper) takes readers back to 1970s New England with The Girl in the Garden. June is a very new, very young mother when Ward abandons her and their son, Luke, in a vacation cabin on the Atlantic coast. June's short life has been one of isolation and neglect; she has no one to go back to and no idea of a future to work toward.
Mabel, the woman who rented the cabin to Ward, takes pity on June and allows her to stay. When the vacation season draws to an end and the cold weather approaches, Mabel makes arrangements for June to move into a guesthouse belonging to her reclusive friend Iris. Here June meets Iris's lawyer Duncan and his friend Oldman. She begins to shape a life for herself and Luke in the small community, until Iris's estranged daughter returns, bringing a war-scarred Vietnam veteran along with her. The Girl in the Garden tells their stories--their secrets, struggles and successes--gracefully woven together in poetic prose that evokes strong atmosphere and sense of place. Whether it's Oldman's Studebaker, the town restaurant or Iris's garden on the year's first snowfall, 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. --Jen Forbus, freelancer