Title: The Garden of Darkness
Author: Gillian Murray Kendall
Genre: YA Dystopian
Opening lines: ‘…Clare and her father and stepmother survived long enough to leave the dying city in their neighbour’s small Toyota…’
Blurb: The Garden of Darkness explores the journey of two teens and some other orphaned children who temporarily have survived a disease that seems to infect all but one adult. Their families dead from the pandemic SitkaAZ13, known as PEST, 15-year-old cheerleader Clare and 13-year-old chess club member Jem, an unlikely pair, are thrown together and realize that, if either of them wishes to reach adulthood, they must find a cure. A shadowy adult broadcasting on the radio to all orphaned children promises just that — to cure children once they grow into Pest, then to feed them and to care for them. Against a hostile landscape of rotting cities and of a countryside infected by corpses and roamed by voracious diseased survivors, Jem and Clare make their bid for life and, with their group of fellow child-travellers growing, embark on a journey to find the grownup they believe holds the cure. Their only weapon is Clare’s dog, Bear. But Clare and Jem, as well as their followers, are hampered by the knowledge that everything in this new child-led world had become suspect—the love of diseased adults, alliances, trust, hope. As Clare and Jem learn to stitch wounds, skin deer and survive in the ashes of the old world perhaps it is no surprise that they begin to find that friendship is as redemptive as anything they seek—that friendship has its own kind of healing power. And, at the end of their journey, in the face of the ultimate betrayal, they discover that out of friendship can come love.
My thoughts: THE GARDEN OF DARKNESS is very, very dark…not a book to read at night before you go to sleep. I can vouch for this because for the first time in a very long time my heart was pounding and I felt very, very upset at what I was reading. The ‘baddie’ in this story is heart wrenchingly bad; It is wonderful when you are so sucked into a story that you are so at one with events. Despite the, at times, overwhelming darkness of the story the actual plot was very believable – an out of control virus wipes out everyone over the age of 18. Everyone is infected as spots on their tummies ascertain, but until kids turn 17/18 the virus just lies dormant. Surviving children gather together for survival – some don’t even get to do that and there is a heartbreaking scene of a young child dead in its house not because they had the virus but because it was left all alone and was unable to care for itself. There is also something worse than dying, being a Cured. In the last days there were announcements that there was a cure which sent hundreds of affected people to receive the vaccination. The result was not death, but the total breakdown of their sanity – the recipient became a stark crazy lunatic with no remembrance of what they were like before and an urge to kill. Children did what they had to do to survive, sometimes what they did were unpleasant, such as kill an animal to eat, or kill a Cured. In fact this portrayal of the children is a huge plus in this story because there is growth in all the characters; a cheerleader and a chess player can work together against all odds to create a life out of the tragedy. At the same time the characters are realistic – these are children – a little girl IS going to be distracted by a toy rather than food, cleaning a toilet? Well not so much. Neither are the children stupid though – there has to be something wrong with the only surviving adult who is offering them help – stranger danger kicks in. The little band of survivors makes their way to his location hoping for the cure and at the same time scared of what they might find. As the book progresses his intentions become clearer as his story of life in his haven is interspersed with that of the little band. The end is very reasonable – of course there is a cure but it comes too late for adults – there had to be a cure otherwise there would be no future, as each of the children reached the age of 17/18 the virus would bloom and they would die. At the end there are a few loose ends, however, having said this, if you think about it, the end is really the new beginning. THE GARDEN OF DARKNESS is a very good read for teens and adults alike, it is about survival against all odds and creating family to replace those who are lost. Believable characters, a great story and a feeling that you have travelled to hell and back with Clare, Jem and the others by the time you reach the end. Oh and keep an eye out for Dinah – so terribly sad.
B – Great. I really enjoyed reading it and it is a book I will be recommending to all my friends who like this genre.
With thanks to Rebellion/Ravenstone and the author via Netgalley for my copy to read and review.
Leave a comment