Girl in the Garden

<p>"Soulful and exquisite this novel blooms with the beauty of humanity."<strong>--</strong><em>Shelf Awareness</em><br /><br />"In this exceptional novel Melanie Wallace conveys the depths and complexities of life in a seemingly uneventful New England village. <em>The Girl in the Garden</em> strikingly affirms Eudora Welty's belief 'that one place understood helps us understand all other places better.'"--Ron Rash author of <em>Serena</em> and <em>Above the Waterfall</em><br /><br />"Powerful...A quiet contemplative novel that builds slowly and leaves a lasting impact."<strong>--</strong><em>Publishers Weekly</em><br /><br /><br /><br />When June arrives on the coast of New England baby in arms an untrustworthy man by her side Mabel--who rents them a cabin--senses trouble. A few days later the girl and her child are abandoned.<br /><br />June is soon placed with Mabel's friend Iris in town and her life becomes entwined with a number of locals who have known each other for decades: a wealthy recluse with a tragic past; a widow in mourning; a forsaken daughter returning for the first time in years with a stranger in tow; and a kindly WWII veteran who serves as the town's sage. Surrounded by the personal histories and secrets of others June finds the way forward for herself and her son becoming determined by the others' pasts including loves--and crimes--from years ago.<br /><br />In vivid nuanced prose Melanie Wallace--"a writer with a tender regard for the marginal the missing and the lost" (Hilary Mantel)--explores the time-tested bonds of a small community the healing power of friendship and love and whether the wrongs of the past can ever be made right.</p>