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The Gardener
The new novel from Salley Vickers, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Librarian and Grandmothers
Artist, Hassie Days, and her sister, Margot, buy a run down Jacobean house in Hope Wenlock on the Welsh Marches. While Margot continues her London life in high finance, Hassie is left alone to work the large, long-neglected garden. She is befriended by eccentric, sharp-tongued, Miss Foot, who recommends, Murat, an Albanian migrant, made to feel out of place among the locals, to help Hassie in the garden.
As she works the garden in Murat's peaceful company, Hassie ruminates on her past life: the sibling rivalry that tainted her childhood and the love affair that left her with painful, unanswered questions.
But as she begins to explore the history of the house and the mysterious nearby wood, old hurts begin to fade as she experiences the healing power of nature and discovers other worlds.
In her haunting new novel, Salley Vickers, the bestselling author of The Librarian and The Cleaner of Chartres, writes with the profound psychological insight and sense of the numinous power of place that is the hallmark of all her novels.
'Salley Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She's a presence worth cherishing' Philip Pullman
'The Gardener is a novel of regrowth & regeneration, of sisters overcoming a toxic parental legacy & of the healing power of seed packets. The perfect fictional promise to draw us through a harsh winter' Patrick Gale
'Steeped in a sense of the redemptive power of place, Sally Vickers's 11th novel is a paean to green-fingered regeneration that is both rigorous and charming' Observer
Artist, Hassie Days, and her sister, Margot, buy a run down Jacobean house in Hope Wenlock on the Welsh Marches. While Margot continues her London life in high finance, Hassie is left alone to work the large, long-neglected garden. She is befriended by eccentric, sharp-tongued, Miss Foot, who recommends, Murat, an Albanian migrant, made to feel out of place among the locals, to help Hassie in the garden.
As she works the garden in Murat's peaceful company, Hassie ruminates on her past life: the sibling rivalry that tainted her childhood and the love affair that left her with painful, unanswered questions.
But as she begins to explore the history of the house and the mysterious nearby wood, old hurts begin to fade as she experiences the healing power of nature and discovers other worlds.
In her haunting new novel, Salley Vickers, the bestselling author of The Librarian and The Cleaner of Chartres, writes with the profound psychological insight and sense of the numinous power of place that is the hallmark of all her novels.
'Salley Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She's a presence worth cherishing' Philip Pullman
'The Gardener is a novel of regrowth & regeneration, of sisters overcoming a toxic parental legacy & of the healing power of seed packets. The perfect fictional promise to draw us through a harsh winter' Patrick Gale
'Steeped in a sense of the redemptive power of place, Sally Vickers's 11th novel is a paean to green-fingered regeneration that is both rigorous and charming' Observer
296 pages, Hardcover
First published November 4, 2021
83 people are currently reading
1032 people want to read
About the author
Salley Vickers
42 books353 followersSalley Vickers was born in Liverpool, the home of her mother, and grew up as the child of parents in the British Communist Party. She won a state scholarship to St Paul’s Girl’s School and went on to read English at Newnham College Cambridge.
She has worked, variously, as a cleaner, a dancer, an artist’s model, a teacher of children with special needs, a university teacher of literature, and a psychoanalyst. Her first novel, ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’, became an international word-of-mouth bestseller. She now writes full time and lectures widely on many subjects, particularly the connections between, art, literature, psychology and religion.
Her principal interests are opera, bird watching, dancing, and poetry. One of her father's favourite poets, W.B.Yeats, was responsible for her name Salley, (the Irish for 'willow') which comes from Yeats’s poem set to music by Benjamin Britten 'Down by the salley gardens'.
She has worked, variously, as a cleaner, a dancer, an artist’s model, a teacher of children with special needs, a university teacher of literature, and a psychoanalyst. Her first novel, ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’, became an international word-of-mouth bestseller. She now writes full time and lectures widely on many subjects, particularly the connections between, art, literature, psychology and religion.
Her principal interests are opera, bird watching, dancing, and poetry. One of her father's favourite poets, W.B.Yeats, was responsible for her name Salley, (the Irish for 'willow') which comes from Yeats’s poem set to music by Benjamin Britten 'Down by the salley gardens'.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 208 reviews
December 22, 2021
This novel certainly proved the adage that you cannot judge a book by its cover. The cover and end sheets were beautiful, reminiscent of early 20th century books handed down to me by my grandmother. The contents were sadly disappointing. I have enjoyed a number of Salley Vickers books and initially there was some of the insightful and witty prose that I have come to expect. The characters, however, were stereotypical and irritating. The story quite dull and the ending seemingly tacked onto the end with little relevance to what had gone before. (It was so strange that I actually thought at first that I must have somehow missed a chapter.)
December 9, 2021
I loved this book at the beginning. It's a beautiful format, lovely William Morris endpapers and it starts off with such promise.
And then, oddly, it changed. The ending is out of kilter and doesn't seem to fit with the beginning at all. Odd and sooo very disappointing.
And then, oddly, it changed. The ending is out of kilter and doesn't seem to fit with the beginning at all. Odd and sooo very disappointing.
September 28, 2021
Just what I needed on a wet autumn day, ful of a cold. A hot cup of Salley Vickers - her gentle unfolding narratives and touchingly real characters are always a tonic.
November 28, 2021
You can burn things you don't want in the garden, or you can leave them to wilt over weeks. This book, unfortunately, seemed more of the slow wilt. Hass and Margot, two middle-aged sisters, have a fractious relationship, but have clubbed together with their inheritances and bought a large cottage in an olde-timey English village. Through Hass's eyes, as she's the more regular resident, we see how they differ – in decor, in willingness to befriend the locals, and in so much else. We also have to see how snippy Margot is, and a lot in flashback about the relationship with a married man Hass is seemingly on the run from, and a lot else besides. So you're halfway into this book and still are doubting the title is the most relevant one.
The problem with this book is not just its leisurely growth into its own story – taking its time to find a theme to bring to the table. The book is one of those alienatingly middle-brow, middle-class, middle-England ones. Margot is unlikeable with her cattiness and her above-everyoneness, and Hass is not much better, quibbling with every action and decision her sister makes, both past and present; being overly gossipy about her parents and what they were like before they lost them. She loves a reference to poetry, quotes "Twelfth Night" to us, has an expectation about certain magazines she's probably never read, and despite claims of poverty (due to her only work being illustrating a kids' fiction franchise which she of course hates) diligently overspends because it's for the locals.
And that leisurely growth is forever stunted – even a power out, or blown fuse, or whatever it is that afflicts the house before it's shipshape, is just mentioned and then ignored. But then, when the same applies to the greater things, those that might have actually provided a plot, you see all that is wrong about this mish-mash. The decorating, as dull as it was? Incomplete, forgotten, ignored. Likewise with the garden. Ditto with the history of the house Hass gets wrapped up in. No, there is some semblance of a story as regards Hass settling down, and some indication of a kind of fairy legacy regarding the building and its environs, but nothing that ever gels into the form of a decent story.
Like I say, wilting, when it needed a spark. One and a half stars.
The problem with this book is not just its leisurely growth into its own story – taking its time to find a theme to bring to the table. The book is one of those alienatingly middle-brow, middle-class, middle-England ones. Margot is unlikeable with her cattiness and her above-everyoneness, and Hass is not much better, quibbling with every action and decision her sister makes, both past and present; being overly gossipy about her parents and what they were like before they lost them. She loves a reference to poetry, quotes "Twelfth Night" to us, has an expectation about certain magazines she's probably never read, and despite claims of poverty (due to her only work being illustrating a kids' fiction franchise which she of course hates) diligently overspends because it's for the locals.
And that leisurely growth is forever stunted – even a power out, or blown fuse, or whatever it is that afflicts the house before it's shipshape, is just mentioned and then ignored. But then, when the same applies to the greater things, those that might have actually provided a plot, you see all that is wrong about this mish-mash. The decorating, as dull as it was? Incomplete, forgotten, ignored. Likewise with the garden. Ditto with the history of the house Hass gets wrapped up in. No, there is some semblance of a story as regards Hass settling down, and some indication of a kind of fairy legacy regarding the building and its environs, but nothing that ever gels into the form of a decent story.
Like I say, wilting, when it needed a spark. One and a half stars.
February 10, 2022
Reading a few reviews after I’d finish this rather lovely novel I was surprised to see so many negative ones. One of the main criticisms was that the ending appeared to be ‘out of kilter’ with what had gone before it. I thought the ending was perfect although I can see why some readers might be a bit puzzled.
Perhaps this is because, although Salley Vickers begins her novel in the second-person (she is writing to a ‘you’), she only briefly uses this device maybe a couple more times throughout the main narrative. We then forget the tantalising ‘you’ and settle into the first-person narration we’re so familiar with in fiction. As we reach the conclusion here is the ‘you’ again and we think … hang on, have I missed something…?
Our narrator, Hassie Days (it is revealed) is writing to her unborn child and the father has got to be Murat, the Albanian gardener with the beautiful white teeth and dazzling smile. Remember that night when Hassie went to look for the lost kitten and was full of sorrow? She saw a figure which ‘began to move slowly towards’ her. It was Murat who had been living in the woods. She refers to this in the denouement, confirmation to readers and, I thought, subtle and moving.
The strength of this novel, for me, was SV’s ability to add so many layers to village life both good and bad: village gossip, narrow-mindedness, supporting the ‘locals’ by buying shrivelled fruit and bad art – all this tempered with the beauty and power of nature. The simply glorious descriptions of birds and flowers moving through the seasons just made this tale of the countryside sing for me.
I also appreciated that this was a subtle narrative that didn’t need explicit detail. A story that ‘showed’ but didn’t ‘tell’ all. A thoroughly satisfying read. Thank you to my local library for helping me find it.
Perhaps this is because, although Salley Vickers begins her novel in the second-person (she is writing to a ‘you’), she only briefly uses this device maybe a couple more times throughout the main narrative. We then forget the tantalising ‘you’ and settle into the first-person narration we’re so familiar with in fiction. As we reach the conclusion here is the ‘you’ again and we think … hang on, have I missed something…?
Our narrator, Hassie Days (it is revealed) is writing to her unborn child and the father has got to be Murat, the Albanian gardener with the beautiful white teeth and dazzling smile. Remember that night when Hassie went to look for the lost kitten and was full of sorrow? She saw a figure which ‘began to move slowly towards’ her. It was Murat who had been living in the woods. She refers to this in the denouement, confirmation to readers and, I thought, subtle and moving.
The strength of this novel, for me, was SV’s ability to add so many layers to village life both good and bad: village gossip, narrow-mindedness, supporting the ‘locals’ by buying shrivelled fruit and bad art – all this tempered with the beauty and power of nature. The simply glorious descriptions of birds and flowers moving through the seasons just made this tale of the countryside sing for me.
I also appreciated that this was a subtle narrative that didn’t need explicit detail. A story that ‘showed’ but didn’t ‘tell’ all. A thoroughly satisfying read. Thank you to my local library for helping me find it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2022
I loved this book. I usually don't read a book again but I would read this again. This is not because of the story which is quite slight, or the characters, some of whom are attractive but some less so, but because of the language. It is beautifully written with carefully chosen , almost poetic language. I loved the descriptions of nature, the garden, the sky and particularly the moon. The edition I read had a lovely cover too which perfectly fitted the story.
It was a joy to read a book where the words were important with an extensive but easily understood vocabulary. Sally Vickers is a writer who seems to be to me someone who takes the time to carefully think about what she is writing.
It was a joy to read a book where the words were important with an extensive but easily understood vocabulary. Sally Vickers is a writer who seems to be to me someone who takes the time to carefully think about what she is writing.
October 8, 2022
When I saw that Salley Vickers’ eleventh novel, The Gardener, had been released, I looked out for it on my next library trip. Vickers is an author whose work I tend to enjoy, and whom I feel is rather underrated in the sea of contemporary British authors. The novel which she released before The Gardener, entitled Grandmothers, was really quite beautiful, and I couldn’t put The Librarian down.
In The Gardener, protagonist Halcyon Days, known as Hassie to all around her, buys a run-down Jacobean house named Knight’s Fee with her sister, located in a fictional village named Hope Wenlock on the Welsh Marches. Her sister, Margot, who works in finance, is present in the narrative only sporadically; she spends much of her life still in London. Of Margot, Hassie reveals: ‘I was never quite sure what it was that Margot did do but it appeared to pay.’ Hassie herself works as an illustrator on something of a freelance basis; she makes enough to scrape by on ‘a rather dismal series of children’s books’, but has only been able to invest in the house due to an inheritance.
In the ‘sprawling’ house, Hassie is left alone to tend the ‘large, long-neglected garden’. Finding it rather a large task, she asks for the help of Murat, an Albanian refugee, who has largely been ‘made to feel out of place amongst the locals’.
Alongside Hassie’s present day existence, we learn very early on that she is still locked into her childhood, and the pains which have filled her past. The house offers her healing, in a way, allowing her to pour some of her energy into discovering the history of Much Wenlock, and the nature which now surrounds her.
In the few books of Vickers’ which I have read to date, I have always felt that the author has an unwavering sense of empathy toward her characters. The Gardener is no different in this respect. Hassie feels realistic and fully-formed, and part of this is due to the sense of humour which Vickers sculpts for her. Scenes which Hassie relays, and comments which she makes are infused with an often dark humour. Of Knight’s Fee, for instance: ‘What I found, when Margot having eroded my resistance I agreed to view it, was a redbrick half-timbered building covered in creeper with what the agent assured us were Elizabethan antecedents. He was wrong about that, but I suppose it’s foolish to expect accuracy from an estate agent.’ She goes on: ‘But this very different house was certainly appealing. In its decayed grandeur it stood for a way of life I could never before have entertained.’
Another realism here is the prickly relationship between the sisters. Hassie recounts that she is expected to do the majority of the work around the house and garden: ‘… I was now ruminating, already prickling at the prospect, was that I would be the bloody toiler in the vineyard while Margot would sit in the garden, drinking and sunning herself, enjoying the results of my labours.’
One of my favourite elements of Vickers’ writing is the way in which her descriptions give a gently haunting feel to the whole. She is also excellent at capturing feelings of nostalgia. Here, she writes: ‘The stairway was vast, with an anachronistic curving mahogany banister, the kind a child would slide down. In my mind’s eye, my infant self went whizzing past the sober middle-aged person padding down the dusty stairs to the hall. The latter person followed the ghost of my young self through to the beamed kitchen and into a cold scullery.’ Her prose is gentle and graceful: ‘A kind of ritual established itself: early each morning, I would go outside in my nightdress and stand barefoot in the dew-drenched grass and the tremulous dawn light, letting the silvery birdsong rinse my ears and the clean morning air fill my lungs and the sun or wind or rain bless my skin. It was at this time of day when I felt as if I were in touch with some larger, stronger reality, which lay behind the appearance of things, the hidden faces at work beneath nature’s surface…’.
Vickers is an interesting writer; the tone of her books is rather gentle on the whole, but there are some serious topics explored; here, we are exposed to chronic loneliness, sibling rivalry, and trying to fit in within a new community, but not being accepted. Vickers flits between time periods, sometimes without clear delineation. It does take a little while to become oriented in The Gardener, but I found the process was worth it. The Gardener is a very thoughtful novel, and whilst it isn’t my favourite of Vickers’ books, it does give one rather a lot to consider. Taken as a character study, it is perhaps most successful. 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. However, for me, it offered a diverting and rather absorbing story, which took my attention away from current world events. I was sure at around the halfway point that my rating for The Gardener would be higher, but I personally found the ending extremely unsatisfactory; in my opinion, it did not tally with the characters’ behaviour up to that point, and it felt rather rushed.
In The Gardener, protagonist Halcyon Days, known as Hassie to all around her, buys a run-down Jacobean house named Knight’s Fee with her sister, located in a fictional village named Hope Wenlock on the Welsh Marches. Her sister, Margot, who works in finance, is present in the narrative only sporadically; she spends much of her life still in London. Of Margot, Hassie reveals: ‘I was never quite sure what it was that Margot did do but it appeared to pay.’ Hassie herself works as an illustrator on something of a freelance basis; she makes enough to scrape by on ‘a rather dismal series of children’s books’, but has only been able to invest in the house due to an inheritance.
In the ‘sprawling’ house, Hassie is left alone to tend the ‘large, long-neglected garden’. Finding it rather a large task, she asks for the help of Murat, an Albanian refugee, who has largely been ‘made to feel out of place amongst the locals’.
Alongside Hassie’s present day existence, we learn very early on that she is still locked into her childhood, and the pains which have filled her past. The house offers her healing, in a way, allowing her to pour some of her energy into discovering the history of Much Wenlock, and the nature which now surrounds her.
In the few books of Vickers’ which I have read to date, I have always felt that the author has an unwavering sense of empathy toward her characters. The Gardener is no different in this respect. Hassie feels realistic and fully-formed, and part of this is due to the sense of humour which Vickers sculpts for her. Scenes which Hassie relays, and comments which she makes are infused with an often dark humour. Of Knight’s Fee, for instance: ‘What I found, when Margot having eroded my resistance I agreed to view it, was a redbrick half-timbered building covered in creeper with what the agent assured us were Elizabethan antecedents. He was wrong about that, but I suppose it’s foolish to expect accuracy from an estate agent.’ She goes on: ‘But this very different house was certainly appealing. In its decayed grandeur it stood for a way of life I could never before have entertained.’
Another realism here is the prickly relationship between the sisters. Hassie recounts that she is expected to do the majority of the work around the house and garden: ‘… I was now ruminating, already prickling at the prospect, was that I would be the bloody toiler in the vineyard while Margot would sit in the garden, drinking and sunning herself, enjoying the results of my labours.’
One of my favourite elements of Vickers’ writing is the way in which her descriptions give a gently haunting feel to the whole. She is also excellent at capturing feelings of nostalgia. Here, she writes: ‘The stairway was vast, with an anachronistic curving mahogany banister, the kind a child would slide down. In my mind’s eye, my infant self went whizzing past the sober middle-aged person padding down the dusty stairs to the hall. The latter person followed the ghost of my young self through to the beamed kitchen and into a cold scullery.’ Her prose is gentle and graceful: ‘A kind of ritual established itself: early each morning, I would go outside in my nightdress and stand barefoot in the dew-drenched grass and the tremulous dawn light, letting the silvery birdsong rinse my ears and the clean morning air fill my lungs and the sun or wind or rain bless my skin. It was at this time of day when I felt as if I were in touch with some larger, stronger reality, which lay behind the appearance of things, the hidden faces at work beneath nature’s surface…’.
Vickers is an interesting writer; the tone of her books is rather gentle on the whole, but there are some serious topics explored; here, we are exposed to chronic loneliness, sibling rivalry, and trying to fit in within a new community, but not being accepted. Vickers flits between time periods, sometimes without clear delineation. It does take a little while to become oriented in The Gardener, but I found the process was worth it. The Gardener is a very thoughtful novel, and whilst it isn’t my favourite of Vickers’ books, it does give one rather a lot to consider. Taken as a character study, it is perhaps most successful. 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. However, for me, it offered a diverting and rather absorbing story, which took my attention away from current world events. I was sure at around the halfway point that my rating for The Gardener would be higher, but I personally found the ending extremely unsatisfactory; in my opinion, it did not tally with the characters’ behaviour up to that point, and it felt rather rushed.
February 10, 2024
This was such a weird book. I think what made it feel so strange was that it didn't seem to fit with the time in which it was supposedly set. The narrative felt like it belonged in the 1950s, but various references throughout the book make it clear that Hassie and Margot moved to Knight's Fee in 2018! So it's a modern book, yet so many things in it belong to an earlier era. For example, Hassie (who must have been born mid 1970s since she is 44 in 2018) wears silk dresses and cardigans and at one point refers to wearing "a new frock" (who refers to "frocks" these days?); £7 per hour is the local rate for a self-employed gardener (which was below minimum wage in 2018) and £10 an hour is "London rates" (love to know what part of London has self-employed gardeners working for £10 an hour!); and a retired teacher says to Hassie "I assume as a modern young woman you work?" All this meant that I kept feeling I was reading about the middle of the last century, and then there would be a reference to mobile phones or Brexit!
Most of the characters were either characterless or unpleasant. Margot is arrogant and rude, referring to the villagers as 'local yokels' and Hassie's Muslim gardener Murat as 'the terrorist'. (Ironically, when a village child makes a racist comment to Murat, Hassie visits the child's grandmother to issue a stern rebuke about the child's behaviour. I couldn't help feeling that she should be tackling her 40-something sister's racist attitudes before criticising a 10 year old child for the same behaviour!) Hassie herself is patronising, seeing herself as some kind of 'lady bountiful' (at one point, she visualises setting up "a gardening school for deprived local children..myself presiding, offering an environmentally creative outlet for youth...") The villagers are all racist, xenophobic Brexiteers...Murat, whom I expected to play a major role in view of the novel's title, stays very much on the fringes.
Two stars for the gorgeous cover and end papers and some of the descriptive writing. But the plot is a mess - in serious need of pruning, weeding and a fair bit of replanting!
Most of the characters were either characterless or unpleasant. Margot is arrogant and rude, referring to the villagers as 'local yokels' and Hassie's Muslim gardener Murat as 'the terrorist'. (Ironically, when a village child makes a racist comment to Murat, Hassie visits the child's grandmother to issue a stern rebuke about the child's behaviour. I couldn't help feeling that she should be tackling her 40-something sister's racist attitudes before criticising a 10 year old child for the same behaviour!) Hassie herself is patronising, seeing herself as some kind of 'lady bountiful' (at one point, she visualises setting up "a gardening school for deprived local children..myself presiding, offering an environmentally creative outlet for youth...") The villagers are all racist, xenophobic Brexiteers...Murat, whom I expected to play a major role in view of the novel's title, stays very much on the fringes.
Two stars for the gorgeous cover and end papers and some of the descriptive writing. But the plot is a mess - in serious need of pruning, weeding and a fair bit of replanting!
September 13, 2022
Liked the writing, disliked the book. Okay 2.75 with an uplift to a 3 because of the vocabulary.
January 14, 2022
I absolutely loved this book; it is the purest and best literary fiction I have read in well over 12 months. Two sisters as unlike as can be imagined with unresolved differences together buy a country house with their inheritance from the their father’s recent passing. The house, the village and of course the garden and bordering woodland provoke an onslaught of memories, reflection and ultimately resolution. The garden is part of the character of the gardener and together they work a kind of magic. The ending is utterly perfect and left me wistfully wanting more at the same time as feeling complete.
November 18, 2021
I normally love Salley Vickers, but the ending ruined this book for me. I just don’t understand it. I thought perhaps I had missed a chapter, but I hadn’t. I have even written to the author but have had no response so far.
October 16, 2023
the descriptions of the garden were divine. 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. i don’t care that much about your lost lover! i want to know about the kingfisher and the flowers in your garden!
i generally quite enjoyed the writing style for major parts of the novel. but the main character…. i‘m sorry but for at least 80% of the book she was just absolutely, infuriatingly annoying. she was constantly pitying herself and acting selfishly. it got better toward the end, but then again the ending is a whole other story, because that random last-three-pages frame work was so unnecessary and also completely unrealistic and random???
the novel also perpetuated some harmful ideas about women‘s bodies and their value, and it portrayed romantic love as hugely sexual (at least for Hassie) which i found very boring and unimaginative. it comes across at Robert and Hassie‘s relationship being mostly physical, but then why would Hassie be unable to get over him? because there‘s just no way Robert was THAT good in bed.
the overall reading experience was nice, but there were a lot of smaller details that bothered me. I find that, ultimately, i simply don‘t care enough. The Gardener won‘t have a lasting impression on me.
i generally quite enjoyed the writing style for major parts of the novel. but the main character…. i‘m sorry but for at least 80% of the book she was just absolutely, infuriatingly annoying. she was constantly pitying herself and acting selfishly. it got better toward the end, but then again the ending is a whole other story, because that random last-three-pages frame work was so unnecessary and also completely unrealistic and random???
the novel also perpetuated some harmful ideas about women‘s bodies and their value, and it portrayed romantic love as hugely sexual (at least for Hassie) which i found very boring and unimaginative. it comes across at Robert and Hassie‘s relationship being mostly physical, but then why would Hassie be unable to get over him? because there‘s just no way Robert was THAT good in bed.
the overall reading experience was nice, but there were a lot of smaller details that bothered me. I find that, ultimately, i simply don‘t care enough. The Gardener won‘t have a lasting impression on me.
November 10, 2021
Lovely in parts, and I wanted to enjoy, but not a fan of a book where the characters are terrible to the Muslim character and… nobody is ever held to account? Strange ending too. Light read but ruined by the casual islamophobia that yes we get in real life but I don’t necessarily want in my literature for no reason (also classically Muslim Murat is little more than a 1D plot device, we know nothing about him as a person apart from how good he is to the locals, sigh!)
October 28, 2021
An enchanting tale of the restoration of a garden and a soul. Hass (Halcyon) has purchased a Jacobean manor house with her sister, Margot. Two sisters, never very close, have pooled their inheritance from their father and purchased this crumbling manor near the Welsh borders in Shropshire. Hass and Margot, chalk and cheese, Hass dark, Margot light. Margot adored, Hass ignored was how it felt growing up in Margot’s orbit.
Through fate, Hass meets Robert, a charismatic artist. They have a passionate long relationship that is only able to be maintained on the sly, as Robert is married and has no intention of leaving his wife. When they are together Hass finally feels adored. The inevitable happens and they are caught out. Three years later and Hass is still grieving.
Settling in the country Hass feels a connection to her father through the birds in the garden and the countryside. Through new friends in the village, she learns the history of the area, and more specifically their new home, Knight’s Fee. Hass explores the region’s significance with the early saints and pagan gods.
Most importantly she develops a better understanding and appreciation for herself and of her sister.
Descriptively written with warmth, laughter and understanding, a beautiful story. The characters and setting very evocative and lasting. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy. It was a pleasure.
Through fate, Hass meets Robert, a charismatic artist. They have a passionate long relationship that is only able to be maintained on the sly, as Robert is married and has no intention of leaving his wife. When they are together Hass finally feels adored. The inevitable happens and they are caught out. Three years later and Hass is still grieving.
Settling in the country Hass feels a connection to her father through the birds in the garden and the countryside. Through new friends in the village, she learns the history of the area, and more specifically their new home, Knight’s Fee. Hass explores the region’s significance with the early saints and pagan gods.
Most importantly she develops a better understanding and appreciation for herself and of her sister.
Descriptively written with warmth, laughter and understanding, a beautiful story. The characters and setting very evocative and lasting. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy. It was a pleasure.
November 14, 2021
Yes, this book about a garden and its restoration at the hands of a woman smarting from the breakdown of a relationship and the death of her Father. But, it is so much more than that as it explores the relationship between two sisters, the place of an immigrant in a small village community and how love and friendship can have great restorative powers. I love Sally Vickers’ writing and her last book, Grandmothers was a triumph. If anything, The Gardener is even better, with its beautiful writing, connection with nature, and exploration of what makes us all human - that love, friendship, nurturing and growing can all heal and make us complete.
June 6, 2023
Gorgeous, gorgeous writing - Salley Vickers at her best (which is saying something because even her ‘worst’ is exceptional)! This has possibly displaced ‘Mr Golightly’s Holiday’ as my favourite, and knocked ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’ into third place. I thought the mystery of the wood and the pool was deftly handled, with the light touch required for something so ethereal. I’m planning to gift copies of this to my more discerning friends because everyone should have a bit of this beauty in their lives.
October 25, 2022
Oh what a mix of emotions - I loved the cover. I loved the last few reads of SV. I loved the start of the book. By the middle I was enchanted, SV had written yet another triumph. But the end! Oh come on - I was completely lost, what was going on? I get it but I hated it. It really didn't work for me. SV had fallen from esteamed novalist to popularist fantasy nonsense. I am heartbroken.
Books, books, books.
Toast
Books, books, books.
Toast
December 2, 2021
I was disappointed in this book. The storylines were unimaginative,twee and superficial and the characters often stereotypical and irritating. The ending was very confusing and out of kilter with the rest of the book. Such a shame as Vickers is a talented writer as seen in her incredible novels 'Mr Golightly's holiday' and 'Miss Garnet's angel' - both in a different class altogether.
November 13, 2024
A really enjoyable autumnal read, but what on earth was the last chapter there for?
November 29, 2022
*3.5 maybe a 4 star after I think on it a bit more.
July 19, 2022
I’m a huge Salley Vickers fan having enjoyed two of her previous books, The Librarian and Grandmothers.
Hassie Days, an illustrator and her high flying sister Margot buy a run down Jacobean house in Hope Wenlock after the death of their father, choosing to buy the house together using their inheritance. Margot spends much of her time in London so Hassie is left much to her own devices and one of the first projects she chooses to tackle is the vast but neglected garden. Knowing she will need help with the heavy digging required, she employs Murat, an Albanian refugee to help her in the garden.
Hassie is keen to integrate herself into village life and makes friends with the elderly and opinionated Phyllis Foot and also the recently widowed vicar Peter, also getting involved in the life of a young child called Penny who often hangs around the home.
During the course of the book, there are some fabulous descriptions of nature – the very act of reading about gardening, flowers, the earth and the wildlife is calming and felt therapeutic to me. We hear a bit more about Hassie’s life – how she had her heart broken then went straight to care for her ailing father. We hear about the girl’s relationships with her mother and father and their relationship with each other. Set in the present day, there was something about The Gardener that felt old fashioned and set in another time. The ending felt a little strange – I genuinely thought I had missed something but looking at other reviews, I’m not the only one who felt this way.
I really enjoyed The Gardener. With a cast of fabulous characters, it was lovely to see Hassie’s recovery from her heartbreak and finding her place in the village. The descriptions of nature and the garden are so evocative and I felt I could clearly picture the house, the garden and the characters. A warm and cosy read, not heavily plot driven, but delightful just the same.
Hassie Days, an illustrator and her high flying sister Margot buy a run down Jacobean house in Hope Wenlock after the death of their father, choosing to buy the house together using their inheritance. Margot spends much of her time in London so Hassie is left much to her own devices and one of the first projects she chooses to tackle is the vast but neglected garden. Knowing she will need help with the heavy digging required, she employs Murat, an Albanian refugee to help her in the garden.
Hassie is keen to integrate herself into village life and makes friends with the elderly and opinionated Phyllis Foot and also the recently widowed vicar Peter, also getting involved in the life of a young child called Penny who often hangs around the home.
During the course of the book, there are some fabulous descriptions of nature – the very act of reading about gardening, flowers, the earth and the wildlife is calming and felt therapeutic to me. We hear a bit more about Hassie’s life – how she had her heart broken then went straight to care for her ailing father. We hear about the girl’s relationships with her mother and father and their relationship with each other. Set in the present day, there was something about The Gardener that felt old fashioned and set in another time. The ending felt a little strange – I genuinely thought I had missed something but looking at other reviews, I’m not the only one who felt this way.
I really enjoyed The Gardener. With a cast of fabulous characters, it was lovely to see Hassie’s recovery from her heartbreak and finding her place in the village. The descriptions of nature and the garden are so evocative and I felt I could clearly picture the house, the garden and the characters. A warm and cosy read, not heavily plot driven, but delightful just the same.
April 14, 2023
Let's start with the positives: this is a beautiful looking book. And the plot as described in the summary is, to me, highly appealing. Two sisters, Hass and Margot, buy a house in the Welsh borders after the death of their father. While Margot divides her time between London and the country, Hass makes the most of village life, befriending retired schoolteacher Phyllis Foot, local vicar Peter, and Murat, an Albanian migrant who she hires to help her work in the garden. The blurb promised lots of contemplative gardening and investigations into the history of the area and the house. What we got, unfortunately, was a lot of Hass glooming around the place, obsessing over a love affair that anyone could have seen was doomed to failure, clumsily ingratiating herself with the locals, and avoiding work which she feels is beneath her.
There's a great book in her somewhere - perhaps one which contrasts Hass's solitary life with that of Nelly East, the previous owner of the house, or one which fully explores the bond between Hass and Murat, the two village incomers. There are tantalising threads of greatness here, and bits of it reminded me of A S Byatt's The Children's Book. I'd have loved more of Nelly's diaries, which come in at the end, almost as an afterthought, or a bit more of Hass and Murat working together in the garden. Unlike other reviewers, I didn't find the ending confusing, but I did feel like it was a bit unearned - having more of a focus on the magic of the place would have made it feel more seamless. Unfortunately, the book felt scattered to me, the language heavy and (as my Turkish friend would describe it) waxy, the dialogue is dated, and the characters two dimensional. Disappointing.
There's a great book in her somewhere - perhaps one which contrasts Hass's solitary life with that of Nelly East, the previous owner of the house, or one which fully explores the bond between Hass and Murat, the two village incomers. There are tantalising threads of greatness here, and bits of it reminded me of A S Byatt's The Children's Book. I'd have loved more of Nelly's diaries, which come in at the end, almost as an afterthought, or a bit more of Hass and Murat working together in the garden. Unlike other reviewers, I didn't find the ending confusing, but I did feel like it was a bit unearned - having more of a focus on the magic of the place would have made it feel more seamless. Unfortunately, the book felt scattered to me, the language heavy and (as my Turkish friend would describe it) waxy, the dialogue is dated, and the characters two dimensional. Disappointing.
March 31, 2023
This is the first novel by Salley Vickers I have read and, after finishing it, I am keen to read her others. It transported me to the Welsh Marches, that area along the border between Wales and England. Any writer who can evoke such a strong sense of place engages me.
Hassie Days, an illustrator, and her sister, Margot, use the inheritance from their father to buy a Jacobean house in the country. Both the house, Knight’s Fee, and garden are run down and need care and hard work to restore. While Margot continues to commute to her finance job in London, Hassie takes on the task of clearing and nurturing the garden.
The story slips between Hassie’s memories of her past life: her relationship with her sister and parents, and that of her ex-lover whose absence has left her unanswered questions.
There’s also a thread of mystery throughout the book. Hassie begins to explore the history of the house and its surrounds and discovers the past has not necessarily disappeared.
It is this quote that summed up the appeal of The Gardener for me:
“The stars that night, as I stood in the hallowing darkness in which Knight’s Fee is couched, seemed brilliant points of conjunction in a vast and invisible net; and gathered within it were all our histories down the ages, right back to the beginnings of time.
“See, see, the stars soundlessly sang, you are not alone. All and everything that came before you is here with you now.”
Not everything in life is elucidated; rather, it can be only experienced and perhaps inexplicable. For this reason, I loved this story.
Hassie Days, an illustrator, and her sister, Margot, use the inheritance from their father to buy a Jacobean house in the country. Both the house, Knight’s Fee, and garden are run down and need care and hard work to restore. While Margot continues to commute to her finance job in London, Hassie takes on the task of clearing and nurturing the garden.
The story slips between Hassie’s memories of her past life: her relationship with her sister and parents, and that of her ex-lover whose absence has left her unanswered questions.
There’s also a thread of mystery throughout the book. Hassie begins to explore the history of the house and its surrounds and discovers the past has not necessarily disappeared.
It is this quote that summed up the appeal of The Gardener for me:
“The stars that night, as I stood in the hallowing darkness in which Knight’s Fee is couched, seemed brilliant points of conjunction in a vast and invisible net; and gathered within it were all our histories down the ages, right back to the beginnings of time.
“See, see, the stars soundlessly sang, you are not alone. All and everything that came before you is here with you now.”
Not everything in life is elucidated; rather, it can be only experienced and perhaps inexplicable. For this reason, I loved this story.
November 21, 2021
I have loved all Salley Vickers' other books, but I am afraid I did not enjoy "The Gardener". I found the characters irritated me, particularly Halcyon. I could not really see where the story was going or what it was about and it seemed to end abruptly without going anywhere.
July 8, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed The Gardener. I have found a new author! I have dog-earred the book throughout where a line touched me or otherwise resonated. I enjoyed the descriptions of the settings and the flora and the fauna. The characters were endearing (except that one who..., ) although most were human and therefore could be annoying at times (can't we all?!)
I have read some other reviews, and must say that I thought the characterization of Murat was more subtly wrought. I didn't find him as mysterious as some did. And the responses to, or lack of appropriate responses to anti-Semitic/Muslim attitudes and language that showed up throughout the story were part of the characters' interactions. This book was not written to right any ills in society, so why should we expect a character to be a vigilante? I believe that most people are well-meaning, but ignorant of how to, or incapable of addressing racism or hatred in its many forms. I don't believe this book was intended to be educational in terms of how to deal with these issues. It's a snapshot of a few people in a common location.
As for the ending that dismayed some reviewers, I saw no issues at all. It was all wrapped up nicely. It was spelled out if the reader was not merely skimming. No great mysteries in this book, just subtlety for careful readers to chew on.
I can highly recommend this quick read, and look forward to reading more from Sally Vickers.
I have read some other reviews, and must say that I thought the characterization of Murat was more subtly wrought. I didn't find him as mysterious as some did. And the responses to, or lack of appropriate responses to anti-Semitic/Muslim attitudes and language that showed up throughout the story were part of the characters' interactions. This book was not written to right any ills in society, so why should we expect a character to be a vigilante? I believe that most people are well-meaning, but ignorant of how to, or incapable of addressing racism or hatred in its many forms. I don't believe this book was intended to be educational in terms of how to deal with these issues. It's a snapshot of a few people in a common location.
As for the ending that dismayed some reviewers, I saw no issues at all. It was all wrapped up nicely. It was spelled out if the reader was not merely skimming. No great mysteries in this book, just subtlety for careful readers to chew on.
I can highly recommend this quick read, and look forward to reading more from Sally Vickers.
December 28, 2021
I really enjoyed this beautiful book. I had the pleasure of meeting the author at Much Ado Books, in the pretty village of Alfriston in Sussex.
For me this was a gentle meditation on precious moments in nature, particularly in the context of people we love and have loved. So much of this resonated with me. I still miss my late father and like the author, find myself ‘speaking’ to him at moments we might have shared and enjoyed, as if he were with me. I too have stood barefoot in the dawn light, enjoying birdsong and communing with life as it unfolds for another day. A balm to the soul 😊
For me this was a gentle meditation on precious moments in nature, particularly in the context of people we love and have loved. So much of this resonated with me. I still miss my late father and like the author, find myself ‘speaking’ to him at moments we might have shared and enjoyed, as if he were with me. I too have stood barefoot in the dawn light, enjoying birdsong and communing with life as it unfolds for another day. A balm to the soul 😊
March 24, 2022
It is books like this that make me wonder why I don't read more outside the crime fiction genre. Too much inside the genre competing for my attention I suppose.
I have listed Salley Vickers as a "new to me author" although I'm pretty sure I have read one title by her at least, but possibly decades ago.
This to me was a reminder that sometimes you just need to read books that explore relationships, rather than always solving murder mysteries. There are mysteries in THE GARDENER but they are not the primary focus.
A gentle read
I have listed Salley Vickers as a "new to me author" although I'm pretty sure I have read one title by her at least, but possibly decades ago.
This to me was a reminder that sometimes you just need to read books that explore relationships, rather than always solving murder mysteries. There are mysteries in THE GARDENER but they are not the primary focus.
A gentle read
April 17, 2022
This was a perfect book to read as I recovered from Covid. The lovingly described recreation of a neglected garden and the healing power of nature were captured beautifully and unlike others I liked the way the story was bookended by short first person commentary. Although I do wonder why some women stay in relationships with men who say they love them but won't commit fully.
February 10, 2022
It was dull and unimaginative and difficult to enjoy for most of the book. Until, 50 pages from the end it came alive at last and grabbed my attention.
Too little too late though for me ……. What next?
Too little too late though for me ……. What next?
February 21, 2022
I got this from the library based purely on cover and title. And reading it on a cold wet day proved ideal. It is a cozy kind of book. But, the ending came out of the blue, especially considering allllllll the pages of ruminations that had gone before.
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