[Review] The Girls in the Garden - Lisa Jewell

Summary: Imagine that you live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses. You’ve known your neighbors for years and you trust them. Implicitly. You think your children are safe. But are they really?

On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her thirteen-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?

Dark secrets, a devastating mystery, and the games both children and adults play all swirl together in this gripping novel, packed with utterly believable characters and page-turning suspense.. (Pub Date: Jun 7, 2016)


Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley.

After an incident that took away her father to mental care, Pip has to get used to the new house, which comes with an unusual way of living and a group of teenagers she can't very well get along with. When she finds her sister lying in the communal park, she knows it could have only be caused by one of the people living in the neighborhood but who? And why is it so similar to an incident from decades before?

Narrated in third person from lovely Pip's eyes, as well as her mother's and a neighbor's—and at a point even her sister's—this is was an enticing read that goes beyond solving a mystery, it also explores family and friendship.

I'm not usually as drawn to main characters as I was here. And I didn't fall in love with Pip from the start I liked the resource of her letters to her dad but her voice was a little irritating until I got used to it or perhaps the author didn't feel the need anymore to prove to us this was a eleven/twelve year old.

More on the character part, I loved the choice of people to live around this communal area. They have mostly known each other forever and so have their parents. As we're shown all the events leading to Pip's sister discovery from the day her family moved in, we get to know each of the main actors. And it's so interesting how everyone has that weird side that makes them the perfect suspect!

This was gripping and not very easy to solve. I wouldn't say the author was a genius hiding the culprit, but her building of the human relations that would base the person's motives was something I admired. Particularly, I didn't like the parts with the police, if I had to point one mistake that ticked me off. Of course the police would be involved and asking questions but, in the end, their participation was so small I preferred they'd stayed in the background. Leave the spotlight to the main characters, really.

As for the ending, as I got closer I knew it wouldn't end with a bang. I didn't even want it. And it didn't. It was very rational. Again, I'm not sure if the police would really let it happen in real life—do I expect too much from them?—and yet, I found it to be the perfect closure.

Now I'm done I keep thinking back to that park and how magical but also how weird it could be. In my culture, it's not even an aberration for people to have private areas they share. However, even to my used eyes this author managed to make it fantastic enough I wished I had experienced it in my childhood as well.

Recommended for those who like mysteries with a more familiar feeling to them. This lacks the spark to make it a 4-star read—it's surely a 3.5—but it's so endearing I must say you should go for it if in doubt. 

Rating: 3 out of 5.