Book Description
Eden was its name.
“An alternative school for happy children.”But it closed in disgrace after a student’s suicide.
Now it’s a care home, its grounds neglected and overgrown.Gloria Harkness is its only neighbour, staying close to her son who lives there in the home, lighting up her life and breaking her heart each day.
When a childhood friend turns up at her door, Gloria doesn’t hesitate before asking him in. He claims a girl from Eden is stalking him and has goaded him into meeting her at the site of the suicide. Only then, the dead begin to speak – it was murder, they say.
Gloria is in over her head before she can help it.
Her loneliness, her loyalty, and her all-consuming love for her son lead her into the heart of a dark secret that threatens everything she lives for.
Publication Details
- Author: Catriona McPherson
- Book Title: The Child Garden
- Publisher: Constable
- Publication Date: 3 September 2015
- Format: Digital Edition
- ISBN: 9781472122926
- Pages: 314
About the Author
Catriona McPherson was born in South Queensferry. After finishing school, she worked in a bank for a short time, before going to university. She studied for an MA in English Language and Linguistics at Edinburgh University, and then gained a job in the local studies department at Edinburgh City Libraries. She left this post after a couple of years, and went back to university to study for a PhD in semantics. During her final year she applied for an academic job, but left to begin a writing career.
These days, living with her husband on a farm in the Galloway countryside, where she spends her time writing, gardening, swimming and running.
Catriona McPherson’s website
You will also find Catriona McPherson on: Facebook , GoodReads , Amazon
My Review
I bought this psychological thriller after a recommendation from an author I follow on Twitter. The author, Catriona McPherson, was a new name to me but I liked the synopsis and the recommending author was one I enjoy very much (Ian Rankin).
There were a few twists which took some thought and the book easily fits the “can’t put down” category. I finished it in just a couple of days. I loved the fact it was set in Scotland and in places I could visualise easily by the way the author clearly describes each setting.
Highly recommend and I will be reading more from this very talented author.
“The Child Garden” the title has a twofold meaning. It alludes to the poems of Robert Louis Stevenson in “The Child’s Garden of Verses” and also to the garden of Eden Boarding School, near Galloway, Scotland.
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