The Night Garden, by Lisa Van Allen. Random House LLC 2014

Having seen the author’s work compared to that of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen, I had great hopes for this book. That the book is set in a farm and garden made it even more appealing to me; that the garden is a maze, with many garden ‘rooms’, which is expanded each year sealed the deal. And, oh, yes, there are humans in the novel, too. Olivia Pennywort runs the farm/garden, and has a secret behind why she never touches anyone or allows them to touch her. Her father lives self-exiled in a shack in the ravine behind the farm. Sam Van Winkle, Olivia’s childhood best friend, has returned to the valley as a policeman, following a previous life as a pilot all over. Several Penny Loafers- women who wander in with no job prospects and no money- live in the barn in summer, some the same women every year, some different. They work the farm and garden in payment for room and board. They also seek an answer to their futures, because supposedly walking the maze will reveal the answer as to what they should do. Sadly, the maze has never given Olivia any advice…. Even though she sleeps many nights in the inner garden, a locked, cement walled, room filled with poisonous plants that no one else is allowed into.

Sadly, I was let down. There was nothing egregiously wrong, but it was just… kind of flat. The characters never came to life. The plot had a few problems for the characters to solve, but mostly it just ambled along, with the characters emo-ing. I loved the idea behind the garden, but even it never really became the magical landscape I thought it would- and some botanical errors made me grumpy. The ‘villain’ was pretty ineffectual.

It had so much potential, but it failed to fulfil it. I can only give it 3 stars.