At the Bottom of the Garden by Camilla Bruce
At the Bottom of the Garden by Camilla Bruce
A murderess becomes the guardian of two very unusual girls in this mesmerizing gothic novel from acclaimed author Camilla Bruce.
Clara Woods is a killer-and perfectly fine with it, too. So what if she takes a couple of lives to make her own a little bit better? At the bottom of her garden is a flower bed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace-or so she’s always thought.
Then the girls arrive.
Lily and Violet are her nieces, recently orphaned after their affluent parents died on an ill-fated anniversary trip. In accordance with their parents’ will, the sisters are to go to their closest relative-who happens to be Clara. Despite having no interest in children, Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls’ assets-not only to bolster her dwindling fortune but also to establish what she hopes will be her legacy: a line of diamond jewelry.
There’s only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara’s ghosts . . . and call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability-and they know far more than they should.
This is one of the ARCs I got from the Penguin Random House booth at New York Comic Con. The book is on sale January 28, 2025.
4 out of 5 Haunting Ghosts.
I enjoyed this fairytale. Aunt Clara is very much the evil-stepmother, but I also saw her as the evil dragon hoarding diamonds and greedy for more wealth. She does get a well developed background story to understand her callousness and spitefulness. There was a cycle of violence in her family, yet I didn't feel any sympathy for her. While she did horrendous things, I didn't get raving mad at her because she was written more as a cartoon villain. Which in this story worked.
The girls, Lily and Violet, are the engaging sisters that I rooted for and I liked the power play between them (well mostly Lily because she is the older sister) and their aunt.
The pacing does slow down in the middle. The discovery of understanding the girls' powers and its origin is a slow burn, so be patient. I personally felt it paid off in the end. The chapters switch POV between the girls and the aunt. Lily's and Violet's were the ones I enjoyed the most.
I did have some issues with the story which is why I didn't rate it a five. You do have to suspend your belief in order to get past some of the excuses. Such as the police being moronic, and the lawyer not believing the children he knows over the stranger (Clara). Not to mention, why didn't child services ever check out Clara's house and lifestyle to make sure she was capable of raising children? [Spoiler (click to open)]They would have seen the bloody mattress in the basement! Why did she even keep that? And why didn't they also make surprise visits to check that everything was kosher?
There's also Dina, the housekeeper and only other adult the girls interact with. I liked her, but, [Spoiler (click to open)]she was a bad advocate for the girls after witnessing such abuse by the aunt. And all because she was afraid to lose her job and being totally cut off from the girls. Use your agency, woman! Take the risk to save the children.
However, that wasn't enough to damper my enjoyment and I think it was because of the relationship between the sisters that I liked and how they came into their powers together.
4 out of 5 Haunting Ghosts.
Memorable quotes from the ARC.
Page 63: Another time she said, "It is the privilege of those who have never faced true hardships to go on reckless 'adventures.' I suppose they want to impress their peers who have also never known pain or danger. Those of us who have truly struggled in life would never needlessly risk our own safety, because we know that bad things can-and will- happen. But I suppose Benjamin learned that, too, in the end."
Page 127: "It seems like the afterlife has devoured whatever was left of her sparkling wit," I informed her. "Perhaps hell is overbooked and is sending people back-"
"Miss Lawrence would never go there!" Dina looked at her former mistress with adoration.
Page 156: There she stood, young and carefree, thinking that the world was a crème brûlée just for her, all she had to do was crack the sugar.
Page 318-9: I nodded a greeting to the taxidermy bear, feeling like one of the stuffed creatures now, doomed to stay at Crescent Hill-forever-even after I died.
A murderess becomes the guardian of two very unusual girls in this mesmerizing gothic novel from acclaimed author Camilla Bruce.
Clara Woods is a killer-and perfectly fine with it, too. So what if she takes a couple of lives to make her own a little bit better? At the bottom of her garden is a flower bed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace-or so she’s always thought.
Then the girls arrive.
Lily and Violet are her nieces, recently orphaned after their affluent parents died on an ill-fated anniversary trip. In accordance with their parents’ will, the sisters are to go to their closest relative-who happens to be Clara. Despite having no interest in children, Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls’ assets-not only to bolster her dwindling fortune but also to establish what she hopes will be her legacy: a line of diamond jewelry.
There’s only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara’s ghosts . . . and call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability-and they know far more than they should.
This is one of the ARCs I got from the Penguin Random House booth at New York Comic Con. The book is on sale January 28, 2025.
4 out of 5 Haunting Ghosts.
I enjoyed this fairytale. Aunt Clara is very much the evil-stepmother, but I also saw her as the evil dragon hoarding diamonds and greedy for more wealth. She does get a well developed background story to understand her callousness and spitefulness. There was a cycle of violence in her family, yet I didn't feel any sympathy for her. While she did horrendous things, I didn't get raving mad at her because she was written more as a cartoon villain. Which in this story worked.
The girls, Lily and Violet, are the engaging sisters that I rooted for and I liked the power play between them (well mostly Lily because she is the older sister) and their aunt.
The pacing does slow down in the middle. The discovery of understanding the girls' powers and its origin is a slow burn, so be patient. I personally felt it paid off in the end. The chapters switch POV between the girls and the aunt. Lily's and Violet's were the ones I enjoyed the most.
I did have some issues with the story which is why I didn't rate it a five. You do have to suspend your belief in order to get past some of the excuses. Such as the police being moronic, and the lawyer not believing the children he knows over the stranger (Clara). Not to mention, why didn't child services ever check out Clara's house and lifestyle to make sure she was capable of raising children? [Spoiler (click to open)]They would have seen the bloody mattress in the basement! Why did she even keep that? And why didn't they also make surprise visits to check that everything was kosher?
There's also Dina, the housekeeper and only other adult the girls interact with. I liked her, but, [Spoiler (click to open)]she was a bad advocate for the girls after witnessing such abuse by the aunt. And all because she was afraid to lose her job and being totally cut off from the girls. Use your agency, woman! Take the risk to save the children.
However, that wasn't enough to damper my enjoyment and I think it was because of the relationship between the sisters that I liked and how they came into their powers together.
4 out of 5 Haunting Ghosts.
Memorable quotes from the ARC.
Page 63: Another time she said, "It is the privilege of those who have never faced true hardships to go on reckless 'adventures.' I suppose they want to impress their peers who have also never known pain or danger. Those of us who have truly struggled in life would never needlessly risk our own safety, because we know that bad things can-and will- happen. But I suppose Benjamin learned that, too, in the end."
Page 127: "It seems like the afterlife has devoured whatever was left of her sparkling wit," I informed her. "Perhaps hell is overbooked and is sending people back-"
"Miss Lawrence would never go there!" Dina looked at her former mistress with adoration.
Page 156: There she stood, young and carefree, thinking that the world was a crème brûlée just for her, all she had to do was crack the sugar.
Page 318-9: I nodded a greeting to the taxidermy bear, feeling like one of the stuffed creatures now, doomed to stay at Crescent Hill-forever-even after I died.