Matt goes to stay at the big house where his sister Caro is the cook, and in a hidden part of the garden he meets Alix, who lives there with her fierce and bitter French grandmother. Caro's unpleasant fiancee Jasper turns up, as does Alix's uncle Theo, who has a withered hand, and wants to use the house for the crippled children he looks after.
Echoes of Tom's Midnight Garden are superficial: there is no fantasy element and the story is gentle but captivating, with adult conflict and romance viewed from Matt's half-comprehending perspective. The Catholicism of all the characters is unselfconsciously presented as a part of the story, and the book unashamedly sets out moral positions on charity and forgiveness. MB 7-xi-2007 ( )