The Red Garden
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A young wounded civil war solider is saved by a passionate neighbor, a woman meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet falls in love with a blind man, and a mysterious traveler comes to town in the year when summer never arrives. At the center of everyone's life is a mysterious garden where
… More »A young wounded civil war solider is saved by a passionate neighbor, a woman meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet falls in love with a blind man, and a mysterious traveler comes to town in the year when summer never arrives. At the center of everyone's life is a mysterious garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look.
« LessEight nights of love
Year there was no summer
Owl and mouse
The river at home
The truth about my mother
The principles of devotion
The fisherman's wife
Kiss and tell
The monster of Blackwell
Sin
Black rabbit
The red garden
King of the bees.
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Alice Hoffman is known for her character-driven stories that have elements of ‘magic realism’ – her characters might know what you dream, have an unnaturally hot touch, or might see how you will eventually die. In The Red Garden, the character that is mystical is actually the town of Blackwell, Massachusetts, and the founding families who have dwelt there through generations. The novel is actually a series of short stories each revolving around the town, in different periods. The first is set in 1750, the year the town was a settlement and 17-year old Hallie Brady saved the settlers from starving during the winter. She named the field Dead Husband’s Meadow, and protected the bears on Hightop Mountain. Such are the ways local legends are born. The next ‘chapter’ is set in 1792, a generation later, when a mystical man named John Chapman came to town, and planted an apple orchard – a variety that became known as the Blackwell Look-No-Further, it was so delicious. He camped in a part of town called Husband’s Meadow and loved all of nature. He also left behind a baby, the great-grandchild of Hallie, and a distinct love of nature that subsequent generations would inherit. And so it goes: Husband's Meadow becomes Band's Meadow, the descendants of Blackwell's settlers find love, loss, ghosts and belonging, and become legends to their own descendants. This novel, similar to Hoffman's Blackbird House, is a gem for readers who like tracing genealogy, or witnessing a town's historical microcosm develop, grow and change throughout time. Blackwell cannot isolate itself from world events, the Civil War, and World Wars touch it's citizen's lives, but the town below Hightop Mountain survives; the black eels in the river and black bears on the mountain sustaining, protecting and teaching each generation - in its own context - about life.
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Add a CommentAlice Hoffman’s book, “The Red Garden” is a series of short stories about the mythical town of Blackwell Massachusetts from its founding as Bearsville in 1750 to sometime around 1990. The stories loosely follow the founding family’s descendants, weaving the magic of everyday life with the folk magic Ms. Hoffman is so well known for. She captures the feeling both of belonging and of not quite fitting in – I would call it angst, or sometimes even weltschmertz (thank you “30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary”) – that is such a large part of small town life in particular and the human experience in general. I did not love this book, perhaps because it did not transport me away as I love to be taken by a good book, but I do respect it because Ms. Hoffman writes so beautifully and insightfully about the way her characters see themselves, and how these perceptions become the boundaries of the lives they choose for themselves.
I felt a lack of closure in the ending - perhaps because I never wanted it to end. Fantastically written, the stories of all families in town are well interwoven.
For Jean
Great Read - I couldn't put it down.
This is one of my new favourites. A portrait of a small town over a period of 300 years. The haunting stories can fill you with longing. As always with Hoffman, the writing is slightly magical and the prose is perfect.
reviewed in the Stratford Gazette's Shelf Life column
reviewed in the Stratford Gazette's Shelf Life column
I enjoyed the format of each chapter being a different story all linked to the red garden. It was a different kind of read but quite enjoyable.
An interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, read. Glad I picked up this book.
The stories are related by all happening to related people in the same small town. The stories are a bit dull, a bit weird, and not for everyone.