The Girl in the Garden, Melanie Wallace
The Girl in the Garden, Melanie Wallace
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The Girl in the Garden

Author: Melanie Wallace

Narrator: Elise Arsenault

Unabridged: 7 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/31/2017


Synopsis

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 one another 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; a lawyer, whose longings he can never reveal; and a kindly World War II 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 amid revelations of 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"—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 Melanie Wallace

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Karen on January 05, 2017

The year is 1974, you have a sad, but beautiful story that begins with sixteen year old June and her infant son being left stranded by her baby's father, an older man, at a cottage near the ocean, far away from the desolate trailer park where she had lived with a really awful mother. So many characte......more

Goodreads review by Angela M on December 31, 2016

Sad and beautifully written. It was the writing that drew me in from the beginning. While at first I thought the major focus of the story was sixteen year old June and her baby boy who are abandoned at a motel in New England, it became not just about June, but about a cast of heartbroken characters,......more

Goodreads review by Tina on April 15, 2017

I have to be quite honest. I was very excited to get approved to read this book. The story sounded good and I loved the cover of the book. The writing style was not to my liking. The sentences were so long and descriptive and it took a lot to focus and read this book. I understand for many this is a......more

Goodreads review by Esil on February 07, 2017

I have to give The Girl in the Garden 4 stars because of the writing, although there were some small things about the story that irked me. Despite the use of the word “girl” in the title, this is not a thriller or mystery, and it’s certainly not any kind of popular fiction wannabe. This is a book to......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on February 06, 2017

5 stars I found this to be a beautiful book. It begins with a teenage single mother being abandoned at a roadside motel in a small tourist village on the East Coast. She has $47 and a small bag of possessions - a very sad beginning. The young mother is June and she is at the heart of this book. While......more