Review: Sweet story suitable for ages 12 and up
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 2, 2014
The backdrop of this novel is a wonderful yet overgrown garden filled with goldfish pools, an abundance of cats, butterflies, and fireflies. This setting and the events that transpire allow the reader to be transported back to the age in childhood when explorations and the unknown can stir the imagination.This sweet tale centers on ten year old Daniel whose parents are in the midst of a separation. Daniel has come to reside the summer with his flighty Aunt Margo who is housesitting for his Great Aunt Delilah (a woman Daniele has never met). Aunt Delilah is meanwhile in Ireland searching for her long lost granddaughter, Maggie. On the property he meets spunky eleven year old Kat. Daniel and Kat quickly form a friendship and often muse on the complexities of parents, the addled neighbor Colonel Pepperridge, and the moodiness of Daniel's precocious cousin Bree. Daniel and Kat wile away their days traversing the house and property, delving into the mystery of Maggie's disappearance and whether or not she is a ghost, and eventually lending a hand to help spruce up the property and that of the Colonel.Molly Dean has created a cast of colorful and likeable characters in “The Twilight Garden”. The book is a well written read suitable for middle graders and up.