The Girls in the Garden

A Novel

By: Lisa Jewell

Narrated by: Colleen Prendergast

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Imagine that you live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people's houses. You've known your neighbors for years and you trust them. Implicitly. You think your children are safe. But are they really? On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her 13-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?

©2016 Lisa Jewell (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Delightful

Lets start by saying I don’t do romance. I’m not sure these books would even qualify in that category, which is a good thing, in my opinion. This author has the talent and reminds me a bit of Liane Moriarty..She tells the story of a mother with 2 girls, living on her own without her husband. I’ll let you read to find out why. Anyhow they move to this small community where everyone seems friendly. She tries to fit in, although trying to keep a bit of distance due to her private life. The girls also make friends, but soon, you see some cracks beginning to form among some of the people. A big event also occurs, which happens towards the end, but is very well written into the beginning of the book with just a hint of what is to come. . Great writer and narrator.

Not as good as some of her others but still worth

...a listen. If you haven't read Lisa Jewel before, I'd suggest The House We Grew Up In or The Making of Us before this one. Both are on audio and are 4.5 star listens IMHO.

I did enjoy this, nonetheless. It just seemed as if her usual stellar character development and ability to put a mystery into the middle of a family drama story was a bit lacking.

The audio narrator was also a bit of an issue. Because there were so many POV switches, the narrator should have paused between them. She didn't--at ALL. So we're in one person's head then it switches to another person's POV and sometimes it took a few seconds to realize. Not that big of a deal except for the fact that the POV switches are quite frequent.

This fell very short

This had so much potential to be great a book. However about halfway through I realized I had been duped and kept praying it would get better. The ending sealed the deal for me. The ending made no sense and left me asking "What about this?" "Why did you bring that up if it had nothing to do with anything apparently ?!" It's been a while I have been so disappointed with a book. Skip this one if you can.

captivating, excellent narration

kept me pulled in throughout. fantastic narration. twisty plot. full characters. clever writing. realistic relationships.

Another great book!

This writer is now one of my favorites! This is my third book I have listened to and I am very happy! The book was great!! The story was intense and it kept me entertained!! Highly recommend this author and her books!!

Another great Jewell

I love this author. Add this one to the list of great Lisa Jewell novels. Narrated perfectly! I'm always sad to come to the end of her books. I could listen forever.

Good story.

Good story, a lot of characters. By the 10th chapter I had to start over and listen closer to the names and who belonged to whom. overall I enjoyed the book, as a mom of teenagers, I enjoyed the mothers point of view.

Kind of dark, but enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book and very much agree that fans of Liane Moriarty would enjoy it too. It is a bit of a slow burn but not unnecessarily slow, with well developed characters and interesting dynamics. I totally disagree with the reviews that say that the ending felt rushed. I felt like it made total sense and and aimed for well thought out and clabber over something that was just pure shock value.

great story! very good narration.

this was my first audio book and i very much enjoyed it. the narrator was very good!

Fascinating Story

Lisa Jewell is an amazing story teller! She describes the lives of ordinary people and the complexity of relationships among them. Her stories are rich with characters and the localities where they live. Excellent performance!