The Night Gardener

 by Jonathan Auxier

Reviewed by

Elizabeth Mosolovich

            Irish siblings Molly and Kit have arrived in England looking for work following the terrible Irish potato famine, and the only people that will hire them live in a creepy old mansion far away from the rest of the town. Lost on their first day, the brother and sister encounter a storyteller on the road, who offers them directions and some information in exchange for a story about the house after they've settled in for a while. Somewhat disturbed by the woman, the older sibling, Molly, agrees, and eventually she and her brother arrive at the home of their employer.

            The home is built out of a nightmarish-looking tree, and when Kit and Molly enter the house, the mistress of the house, Constance, tries to turn them away. Frightened but desperate, Molly earns Kit and herself a place as a handyman/gardener and servant with her own story-telling skills, and while Constance's daughter Penny is a sweet little girl and she and Kit have a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs, something just feels off about the house, especially when she finds a family portrait painted "just last summer," depicting a healthier, less pale, more robust looking family than the pale, sluggish people she now works for.

            Things get even stranger when Molly finds out that the tree next to the house is magic, and will grant the asker the thing which they desire most. But such presents do not come without a price, and if Kit and Molly don't discover how to kill the tree, and the frightening Night Gardener that guards and nurtures it with the life essences of those in the house, then six, body-sized holes dug by the Gardener will be filled, sooner rather than later.

            This was definitely a book on the darker side, but still an enjoyable one. Kit and Molly's relationship was fun to read about, especially as Molly tried everything she could to keep a secret about their parents from Kit. There was a bit of historical fiction in this book as well, due to the setting of it in the mid-1800s, and a whole lot of paranormal, nightmarish-like content. An easy read, mostly, and a little slow at some points, but still very interesting, and worth giving a try.