THE GIRL IN THE GARDEN BY MELANIE WALLACE
This beautiful story is crafted with long descriptive, poetic prose. There are wonderful characters who shine bright with their humanity. There are also characters who are not likable. I was struck by the devastated emptiness June feels as she is walking to her death with her baby Luke in her arms. It is a heartbreaking scene very vividly described. I can see the cobalt blue Atlantic ocean and feel the freezing cold temperature of the ocean as it almost swallowed June and baby Luke. The black dog that appears barking on the beach and swims out to snap June back to her senses as a spiritual being. As if that dog was an angelic creature to intervene and stop June from drowning herself and her beautiful baby. I can see and feel the warmth of the sunshine as June and baby Luke are back on the sandy beach. I could feel June's desolation.

I am also thinking about how June's old Aunt advised her on how to be a mother by telling June to remember how her mother would handle a situation and do the opposite. June is only sixteen and is utterly abandoned by her baby's father Ward. There is hope for June and her baby. This book is filled with so much more. It is filled with poetic prose and lush descriptions of both setting and characterization.

Thank you to Net Galley, Melanie Wallace and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest and fair review.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28266951-the-girl-in-the-garden" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Girl in the Garden" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455172132m/28266951.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28266951-the-girl-in-the-garden">The Girl in the Garden</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/459016.Melanie_Wallace">Melanie Wallace</a><br/> My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1801059593">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br /> 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.<br /><br />So many characters in this novel that you will come to care for, in this new place where June ended up, some who are very sad, some just lonely, some who have about given up on life, characters of all ages, who become a part of June's story and her future. I really enjoyed this book.<br /><br />Thank you to Netgalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Melanie Wallace for the ARC. <br/><br/> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

Such an awesome story and different from others I've read in a long time. I loved the different view points and the character development. Seeing the same situations from other's point of view opened up the plot line in such an intriguing way!

Really liked this book--great character development and flow.
I liked the characters and foundd the ending quite satisfying. Thank you!!