Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing my review of The Garden, the first in the short story collection Into Shadows.
Synopsis
Fifteen years ago, Lęina’s mother, Yuliana, went searching for a mythical place called the Garden and never returned. Determined to learn the truth about what happened, Lęina travels to Brazil to search for the hidden realm, with Yuliana’s journal and a local tour guide leading the way. But Lęina soon begins to wonder if she’s looking for answers—or if what she truly wants to find is herself.
Review
This first step into the mysterious Into Shadow collection is a mixture of prose and verse. Lyrical and captivating, it sings to you as you wonder what exactly is awaiting us in The Garden.
Lęina is an unreliable narrator, obviously traumatised and carrying so much baggage that she is desperate to lay down, but doesn’t know how. By searching for her mother, and for this mythical garden, she is searching for some peace, and maybe finally some sense of quiet in her head.
As she and her guide travel the route she has plotted out oh so carefully, she finds herself slowly starting to trust him slightly. She thinks about telling him exactly what is going on in her mind, but again, doesn’t know how. It’s in these moments of indecision and pain we get the bursts of poetry.
As a short story, it manages to demonstrate why this author is held in such high esteem, capturing layers of emotion and so ‘much’ in so few words.
Thanks for stopping by for this mini review. I’ll be back with plenty more posts to come, so please keep an eye out, and maybe drop me a follow so you don’t miss out on a post if you’re not already!
And On She Reads 