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The Garden

The Garden

by Paul Perry

Imprint: New Island Books

5.3 x 8.45 in

Hardcover
9781848407992
July 2021
In Stock

$18.99

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The Garden is dying. Once an Edenic orchid farm, it has been decimated by the worst hurricane in Florida’s living memory. Its glasshouses are shattered, the surrounding mangroves encroach, and its men are dangerously idle. When Romeo – an expert breeder of the endangered ghost orchid – arrives from Honduras, boss Blanchard and his Irish lieutenant, Swallow, believe their fortunes are on the rise.

Romeo may not be all he seems though, and Swallow can sense the newcomer shaking the Garden’s creaking hierarchy. The ghost orchid they seek is infamously rare, a delicate and wildly valuable species, hidden deep in the treacherous cypress swamps of the Fakahatchee Strand. To capture the ghost, Blanchard and Swallow must strike a deal with Logan, a dangerously unpredictable member of the local Seminole tribe, whose wounded pride, and simmering web of violence threaten to uproot any hope of success. As Blanchard’s obsession distracts him from what is truly precious, Swallow’s long-buried traumas will test his ability to stop lust, betrayal and death from engulfing the Garden.

Paul Perry’s first solo novel tells of smothering power, loyalty and agency thwarted by the tragic patterns of memory and behaviour. The Garden is a modern fable, and a warning against trespassing upon nature in the name of profit.

PAUL PERRY is the author of five full length collections of poetry including Gunpowder Valentine: New and Selected Poems, and two pamphlets of poetry from above /ground press The Ghosts of Barnacullia, and Blindsight. A recipient of the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship, he is also a novelist. He directs the Creative Writing Programme at University College Dublin.

"Atmospheric and absorbing...an exceptional novel that lingers long in the memory." ~John Boland, Irish Independent

"The power of this novel is generated by an urgent evocation of place and of time. South Florida’s extremity of character emanates in part from a collision between the uncontrollable power of nature and the uncontrolled greed of humanity." ~Neil Hegarty, The Irish Times

"Part modern parable, part noirish thriller, The Garden is an intriguing, atmospheric read where you can almost taste the salty sweat on every page." ~John Walshe, Sunday Business Post

"...a gripping and finely calibrated morality fable with dark slippery textures." ~Hilary Adam White, Sunday Independent

"This is a superb read, a modern fable of exceptional depth that defies categorisation in terms of genre. From its beautiful cover to its turbulent conclusion, it’s a summer must-read." ~Estelle Birdy, Sunday Independent

"When the bullets start to fly, you'll find yourself genuinely concerned about the fate of Swallow and his cohorts. This is down to Perry's compassion for his characters. He doesn't judge them for their sins, but the darkness at the heart of The Garden reminds us that someone else might." ~Joe Joyce, Totally Dublin