I never would've read this book had it not been assigned to me in a Spanish literature course, but I'm so glad that I did read it, not only because it's a great novel, but because it complicates some novels and authors that I really love. The novel is centered around Julio, a minor Chilean novelist writing in exile in Spain shortly after the Latin American Boom. He's had little success in Spain but is working on a new novel, the first draft of which was rejected by the premier editor of Spanish literature. Julio is largely dissatisfied with his life; his mother is dying back in Chile, his marriage to Gloria is unhappy, his relationship to his son Pato (who insists on being called Patrick) is strained at best, and he and Gloria live in poverty, relying on help from their wealthy friends. His only escape is through the world he imagines garden next door, which he views from his bedroom window.
That is a very incomplete summary, but in my opinion, this book is much more character- and voice-driven rather than plot-driven. Frankly, there are really only two or three major plot events and revealing any of them would be very spoilery. In fact, the major twist of this book, which occurs at the beginning of the last chapter, isn't even a plot event at all, but something else entirely.
The narrator's voice in this novel is incredibly rich and lifelike, you may not like Julio, but you really feel like you know him by the end of your time with him. He's not a terribly likable or reliable narrator, which got a bit grating, but overall he was interesting enough to keep my interest. At the same time though, the narrator is incredibly referential. Julio is a professor of English literature, so he constantly references English sources. In my opinion, the most important references are to the Great Gatsby, one of my top 5 favorite books. In fact, Fitzgerald is such a constant presence in the novel that I wondered if the effect was intended to be satirical. He also references Byron, Eliot (T.S. and George, specifically he is translating Middlemarch), Sophie's Choice, and David Bowie, among other references that I may have missed. He also name-drops contemporary Latin American authors both real (García Márquez, Cortázar, etc.) and fictional without actually referencing their works too overtly.
Which brings me to another point. El jardin seems to be at least partially autobiographical. José Donoso was also a Chilean exile living in Spain, dealing with the end of the boom and with being overshadowed by slightly more important authors (now he is considered a major Boom/Post-Boom author, a departure from Julio). Overall, I would recommend this book if you're interested in exile studies (the topic of the class I read this for), contemporary Latin American literature, voice-driven books, or F. Scott Fitzgerald.