The Garden

An eerie, psychologically thrilling gothic on pregnancy, yearning and bodily autonomy from a 'feminist voice for the twenty-first century that is wickedly sharp-eyed, wholly unpredictable and wholly engaging' (Joyce Carol Oates)

From the critically acclaimed author comes an eerie, psychologically thrilling novel about womanhood and bodily autonomy___________________'Pet Sematary meets Rosemary's Baby with a literary sheen' NEW YORK TIMES'A feminist voice for the 21st century' JOYCE CAROL OATES'Prepare to be haunted' RACHEL YODER___________________It's 1948, and Irene Willard has had five miscarriages. She's desperate to give her beloved husband the child he desperately desires and, now pregnant for the sixth time, checks in to an isolated house-cum-hospital run by a husband-and-wife team of doctors who are pioneering a cure, they say, to 'rectify the maternal environment'.There, she befriends Margaret and Pearl, women who are also yearning for motherhood, and together, they undertake the doctors' examinations, both physical and psychological. In the meantime, she discovers a long-forgotten walled garden on the spacious grounds, a place imbued with its own impenetrable powers and pulls. As the doctors' plans begin to crumble, Irene and her fellow patients make a desperate bid to harness the power of the garden for themselves - and must face the incalculable risks associated with such incalculable rewards.Haunting, uncanny and unforgettable, The Garden exhumes private griefs and mysteries in a stunning gothic that explores the ways that women's bodies are policed and manipulated. ______________________More praise for The Garden'Truly original' DAILY MAIL'Page-turning, horror-infused' LITHUB'A dreamlike chiller' OBSERVER'I'm in awe if this book' JESSAMINE CHAN'A shimmering, strange, important novel' RUFI THORPE

About the Author

Clare Beams is the author of the novel The Illness Lesson, which was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the story collection We Show What We Have Learned, which won the Bard Fiction Prize and was a Kirkus Best Debut of 2016. She was a finalist for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize.