The Walled Garden: Unearth the most captivating historical fiction debut of 2023

Description

No one survives war unscathed. But even in the darkest days, seeds of hope can grow. It is 1946 and in the village of Oakbourne the men are home from the war. Their bodies are healing but their psychological wounds run deep. Everyone is scarred - those who fought and those left behind. Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, heir to crumbling Oakbourne Hall. Once a sweet, gentle man, he has returned a bitter and angry stranger, destroyed by what he has seen and done, tormented by secrets Alice can only guess at. Lonely and increasingly afraid of the man her husband has become, Alice must try to pick up the pieces of her marriage and save Oakbourne Hall from total collapse. She begins with the walled garden and, as it starts to bear fruit, she finds herself drawn into a new, forbidden love. Set in the Suffolk countryside as it moves from winter to spring, The Walled Garden is a captivating love story and a timeless, moving exploration of trauma and the miracle of human resilience. 'Richly evocative and transporting' Stacey Halls

Sarah Hardy has lived for the last 10 years in rural Suffolk, which is where her novel is set. Before that she lived in London and worked on national magazines and newspapers.

'Richly evocative and transporting.' - Stacey Halls 'The Walled Garden is a novel about yearning to break free-from the past, from trauma, from the social conventions in a post-war Britain filled with starched aprons and stiff upper lips. Stephen and Alice, outwardly healthy and wealthy, struggle to rekindle their marriage after the unspeakable horrors of the Second World War. From the very first page, The Walled Garden seethes with unspoken turmoil as the inhabitants of Oakborne Hall try to put together the pieces of their lives. But normality cannot be resumed at all cost. As spring turns to summer and the walled garden blooms, secrets and entanglements threaten to tear apart the fragile peace. Sarah Hardy's supremely observed novel blossoms like a rose-sharp and pointed, and stunningly beautiful.' - Inga Vesper, author of The Long, Long Afternoon 'Written with great delicacy and feeling.' - Elizabeth Buchan, author of Two Women in Rome