Book Review: “The Grandest Garden” by Gina L. Carroll

“The Grandest Garden” by Gina L. Carroll (2024)

Genre: Contemporary, Fiction

Page Length: 352 pages (paperback edition)

Synopsis:

Bella Fontaine is on her own. Fresh out of college and with the winnings from her first international photography competition, she decides to leave Los Angeles to forge a new life in New York City. But will she be able to overcome the trauma of her childhood and her break from home to make it as a successful artist and professional photographer in a new city? Or will her secrets catch up with her, and keep her from developing the relationships she needs to make her dreams come true?

We meet young Bella just after her tenth birthday, and her grandmothers, Olivette and Miriam, each with a beautiful, mature garden as different from each other as the two gardeners who tend them. As Bella’s homelife begins to unravel, she relies on her grandmother’s gardens as her refuge for stability and belonging. But when Miriam moves in with Olivette in search of healing, the grandmothers bond in a way that makes Bella feel excluded. What happens next sends Bella out into the world before she is ready.

Review:

Told through dual timelines The Grandest Garden walks readers through a coming-of age story of the main character, Bella. The novel takes us through her love of gardens cultivated by both of her grandmothers and how her life and career has ultimately been shaped by them. Through various obstacles Bella quickly learns how difficult growing up can be especially when it comes to dealing with change.

This is a beautifully written novel with almost flowery language that matches the gardening theme presented in the novel. Gardens not only represent a natural environment (especially in the urban environment of the New York setting), but also help the environment and the people that help take care of them. Gardens prove to be a powerful metaphor in this novel as we see how they coincide with life lesson about personal responsibility, growth, and the family/friends that surround us. I think this was well executed into the plot and the balance of literal and figurative gardens is what will draw readers in this story.

One of my favorite elements of this novel that drove my initial interest in it was the focus on a grandmother’s influence in Bella’s life. Grandparents are often the keepers of family history and often give their grandchildren a greater understanding of who they are and who their parents are. As a person who spent many summers with my grandmas, one of them being an avid gardener it made me nostalgic for my younger days while reading the novel. It made me realize their impact in my life and how I’ve taken their life lessons into practice into adulthood. Reading the tender, quiet moments between Bella’s Nan and Gran, connected me to the novel on a personal level. It was touching to read and I appreciated how some of their older conversations came into Bella’s life as she struggles to make difficult decisions as an adult.

I think sometimes the over descriptiveness of the novel distracted me from the story. Instead of the details for some of the minor aspects of the novel, I would have much rather gotten more backstory for some of the other interesting characters featured in the novel. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and it’s small nuggets of life advice interwoven into the plot as well as its relatability to a wide audience.

TW: Mental Illness, Dementia

Final Verdict: