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The Night Gardener  By  cover art

The Night Gardener

By: Jonathan Auxier
Narrated by: Beverley A Crick
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Publisher's summary

This much-anticipated follow-up to Jonathan Auxier’s exceptional debut, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, is a Victorian ghost story with shades of Washington Irving and Henry James. More than just a spooky tale, it’s also a moral fable about human greed and the power of storytelling.

The Night Gardener follows two abandoned Irish siblings who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives. With Auxier’s exquisite command of language, The Night Gardener is a mesmerizing read and a classic in the making.

©2014 Jonathan Auxier (P)2014 Recorded Books

What listeners say about The Night Gardener

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As an adult...

I did not want to enjoy this book. I didn't count on the tears, laughing, or remember the naivety an innocence of my childhood, but this story dredged it all up. I could not recommend this book enough for children and big children alike. Not for kids under 8 though.

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20 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

From a librarian...

Creepy and suspenseful with just enough humor for an entertaining read. Believable characters will have you rooting for the heroes.

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18 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great spooky story

This is a great story, drizzled with a unique spooky and creepy mystery that will satisfy picky readers and kids that are too old for Goosebumps and want a good scary, thrilling book.
Great read

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Be Careful What You Wish For

The Night Gardener reads like part children's fantasy and part adult horror. The story features two children, a sister and brother, homeless, penniless and seeking any type of work they can get to sustain themselves. That's how they find themselves in an old house set in a very creepy woods. The family of the home all have secrets that are slowly killing them.

Like most young adult stories, the children are left to be the heroes of the story, being able to do things that the adults for various reasons are unable to do on their own.

It was an enjoyable story to listen to, no foul language but there was violence in places. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a spooky story with young protagonists.

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12 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

A story doing all the best work a story is meant to do

If you think of what stories are meant to do, you think about truth. Stories are meant to take you into a make believe world that helps you understand, accept and act in the true world with greater wisdom. The Night Gardener does this and more. In one regard this is a thrilling ghost story that will send chills up your spine whenever a branch knocks a window in the wind. In another regard it is a heart-warming take about complex characters who feel familiar. But this story made me think of a line by the late Frederick Buechner: “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Do not be afraid.”

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Ghost Story

This story was very interesting throughout. The themes it takes on are given the respect they deserve which most books tend to lack. Sins like gluttony, pride, and greed are spotlighted in ways I think most people could sympathize with as well as learn to recognize in themselves. Kip was my favorite character. Despite his disability he was shown as someone that was sure, confident, and incredibly brave. To me, his disability added to the strength of his character. He was incredibly mature and most definitely the smartest person in the predicament the characters fond themselves in. The only negative that I have is that the story took a really long time for the "curse" mentioned in the summary to take center stage in the story. I was reading(listening to) the audiobook version and it was well over sixty percent when stuff started happening. It's still worth the read for the themes of courage and trusting one's self in any kind of situation.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • AJ
  • 11-09-20

Much to Ponder

I started listening to this excellent book with my kids, but finished it alone. My kids got too frightened as they are quite sensitive. I think I’ll try listening again with the older ones around the age of 12 or 13. It is a compelling story, but more than that, I liked the lessons about want vs need, greed vs selflessness, and the importance of teamwork, loyalty, and love. It has crossed my mind to have a book club type discussion when my kids and their friends are teenagers.
I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Creepy without being too scary

This is a great scary story for preteens, the story has a good supernatural theme and a little backstory about Irish immigrants. Well done. I thought some of the voices, especially the male ones sounded weak but the other voices were great. Mild recommendation for true horror fans.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Better Than Best

I can barely find words to do justice to the absolute wonderfulness of this story. Wonderful - yes, that's a good one. But not enough. Perhaps, though, in that word, is at least a bit of a description of what can be found in this engaging tale. A wonder that embraces sorrow and delight, fear and courage, magic and reality.

The narration is lovely, although I thought that the male voices were a bit too feminine. Matters not though. Both the Irish and English accents were well done, without being over-the-top or distracting.

Expect a few disturbing scenes, but acts of violence are not overly described. The final paragraphs carry the suspense to nearly the last page, and the ending leaves just enough to the imagination without failing to bring resolve.

While the genre is considered to be for younger audiences, anyone who enjoys fantasy should find it well suited to any age. Highly recommended!

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

Hard to turn off! Great narration.

My 9 yr old and I got into this book slowly, but then couldn't do anything else until we finished it!

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3 people found this helpful