Description
Book Synopsis''A masterful exploration of love, loss and the healing power of the natural world. Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure'' ObserverLONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS'' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2018Jonah roams Kew Gardens trying to reassemble the shattered pieces of his life after the death of his wife, Audrey. Weathering the seasons and learning to love again, he meets Chloe, an enigmatic origami artist who is hesitant to let down her own walls.In the gardens he also meets ten-year-old Milly, and Harry, a gardener, both of whom have secrets of their own to keep and mysteries to solve.
Trade ReviewA masterful exploration of love, loss and the healing power of the natural world. Like Max Porter’s Grief is a Thing With Feathers, it uses fable, mystery and a poetic sensibility to get at the nub of loss … Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure * Observer *
Kew Gardens proves an abundant and richly suggestive backdrop for this unusual story ... Udall weaves a complex story about the mysterious ways a life can linger, like a scent, and how grief and love can sometimes feel so vast and overwhelming that no earthly landscape can contain them * Daily Mail *
A rich and intricate debut, at once subtle and powerful, intent and reflective, lyrical and visceral, expertly cultivating an abundance of life from all that remains after death -- James Hannah, author of 'The A to Z of You and Me'
A moving story as intricate and elegant as the origami birds that Chloe, one of the characters, folds. I loved this whimsical debut novel * Red, Summer Reads *
Unputdownable fiction ... Poetic and finely wrought * Sunday Express *
A story of death and its aftermath, which lingers long after the last page * Independent *
An extraordinary, enchanting book. Writing as fine and precise as a botanical sketch, gorgeously arty themes, powerful yet fragile imagery and a brilliant story – this is a book to love and treasure -- Tracy Rees, author of 'Amy Snow'
This novel is all about seeing a ‘scarred loveliness’ in a damaged world * Psychologies *
A poetic exploration of those most difficult of topics, grief and love, against the backdrop of Kew Gardens … Udall deftly leads the reader through the tangled web of relationships binding each of these four people to Audrey, whose own story comes to be revealed through her diaries * Scotsman *
Magical, memorable and one I will treasure -- Ali Land, author of 'Good Me Bad Me'
A delicate and beautiful unfolding of grief, loss, love and the way that lives intersect. Insightful and inventive -- Ann Morgan, author of 'Beside Myself'
Absolutely wonderful. It has the emotional integrity of One Day and the complexity and character depth of Cloud Atlas ... An incredible achievement -- Deborah Install, author of 'A Robot in the Garden'
