The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair
Published by Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette
At some level, Rakhee knew her mother wasn’t happy in their home in the Midwest; at some level she may have even known that her mother’s heart did not truly belong to her father. Safe at home, however, these facts are (mostly) easy to ignore. To children parents are parents, they are not unique people. When Rahkee’s mother takes her to visit India, she is pulled unwillingly into the realization that her mother is a real person, with real desires that may not involve either Rakhee or her father. In the midst of these adolescent realizations, Rakhee finds a secret garden out behind her family’s house and what may be her family’s greatest secret.
The Girl in the Garden is a beautiful coming of age novel, an immediately engaging story. Rakhee is a likeable narrator, but appropriately flawed. As any adolescent she can be demanding and obnoxious, but she is also trying to hold her family together the best that she can. Certainly she is willful, but it is that very willfulness that leads her to the garden and gives her the knowledge to either break her family apart or bring it back together.
Nair’s lush writing pulled me right in, and the emotional depth she imparted upon her young narrator kept me turning the pages. Highly recommended.
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I have a copy of this novel sitting next to me on my desk. Can’t wait to read it!
Sounds like a very interesting novel. I love coming of age stories, and how interesting as a child to know that one of your parents may not be in love with the other parent. Nice premise.
Thanks for the review.
Wow, I’m curious about the family secret now. The book sounds lovely.
Heh. I just wrote my review for this yesterday. I did like it a lot. Very fanciful with the exotic - to me - backdrop.
This was a beautiful, if dramatic, book! I’m glad you liked it too.
I was wondering about this book. I loved The Secret Garden and this book has been referred to as The Secret Garden for grown ups. I was hoping get it the BEA but didn’t make it on time for the signing.
I just read this one yesterday and thought it was well-written too. Rakhee is an adorable protagonist!
Just put this one back on the bookshelf, unsure of when, exactly, I might get to it. Now I think I’d better pull it back down to the family room, to the pile of books I want to get to yet this summer.