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Yesterday, I finished The Savage Garden by Mark Mills Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com
In 1958, Adam Strickland, a young Cambridge student, travels to Villa Docci in Tuscany to study a sixteenth-century garden. Designed and laid out by a grieving husband to the memory of his dead wife, it is a mysterious world of statues, grottoes, meandering rills and classical inscriptions.
But tragedy has hit the Docci family more recently. The German occupation during World War Two had a devastating impact on them, and the tensions between collaborators and partisans were played out within their own tight circle.
Adam is fascinated by the Doccis and increasingly aware that there are dangerous secrets hidden within the family domain.The garden itself starts to exercise a powerful influence over his imagination, its iconography seeming to point to some deeper, darker truth than was first apparent. And what really lay behind a killing at the villa towards the end of the war?
Past and present, love and intrigue, intertwine in an evocative mystery which vividly captures the experience of an innocent abroad in the uncertain world of post-War Italy.
The reviews for this book have mixed and seem to vary from some saying it's boring as hell to others saying it's a masterpiece. I think it depends on what you're expecting. Yes, this is set in the crime thriller genre, but please don't expect a 'thrill a minute' or a 'heart-thumping thrill ride'. This is a slow burning account of secrets and discovery, a beautiful picture of post-war Italy, an intriguing and pleasurable look at how an aimless young scholar finds himself feeling suddenly alive.
The Savage Garden is well written with beautiful descriptions which are weirdly simplistic and never fall into dreaded purple prose. The characters are all mapped out vividly and are all likeable in an odd sort of way. My favourite character has to be Harry, Adam's troublesome brother who appears part-way through the book. I would jump at the chance to read a follow-up novel involving Adam and Harry and another mystery; they play very well off each other.
If you're looking for something to blow your mind, this isn't it. If you're looking for something to make you smile, laugh and care about a main character, if you're looking for a intelligent, comfortable, well written novel to pass the time and leave you with a feeling of wanting to go on holiday -- preferably to Italy -- this is for you.
In 1958, Adam Strickland, a young Cambridge student, travels to Villa Docci in Tuscany to study a sixteenth-century garden. Designed and laid out by a grieving husband to the memory of his dead wife, it is a mysterious world of statues, grottoes, meandering rills and classical inscriptions.
But tragedy has hit the Docci family more recently. The German occupation during World War Two had a devastating impact on them, and the tensions between collaborators and partisans were played out within their own tight circle.
Adam is fascinated by the Doccis and increasingly aware that there are dangerous secrets hidden within the family domain.The garden itself starts to exercise a powerful influence over his imagination, its iconography seeming to point to some deeper, darker truth than was first apparent. And what really lay behind a killing at the villa towards the end of the war?
Past and present, love and intrigue, intertwine in an evocative mystery which vividly captures the experience of an innocent abroad in the uncertain world of post-War Italy.
The reviews for this book have mixed and seem to vary from some saying it's boring as hell to others saying it's a masterpiece. I think it depends on what you're expecting. Yes, this is set in the crime thriller genre, but please don't expect a 'thrill a minute' or a 'heart-thumping thrill ride'. This is a slow burning account of secrets and discovery, a beautiful picture of post-war Italy, an intriguing and pleasurable look at how an aimless young scholar finds himself feeling suddenly alive.
The Savage Garden is well written with beautiful descriptions which are weirdly simplistic and never fall into dreaded purple prose. The characters are all mapped out vividly and are all likeable in an odd sort of way. My favourite character has to be Harry, Adam's troublesome brother who appears part-way through the book. I would jump at the chance to read a follow-up novel involving Adam and Harry and another mystery; they play very well off each other.
If you're looking for something to blow your mind, this isn't it. If you're looking for something to make you smile, laugh and care about a main character, if you're looking for a intelligent, comfortable, well written novel to pass the time and leave you with a feeling of wanting to go on holiday -- preferably to Italy -- this is for you.
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One funny thing, just because of the formatting/spacing, the words But tragedy came out in your entry as Buttragedy. The best part is that I nodded sagely and thought, "Ah, yes, of course. Butt tragedy."
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I've got the giggles now. I'd better go fix the Buttragedy. Hee!
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