The Memory Garden
"Fans of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen will find a new passion in this atmospheric, eerie, and utterly beautiful debut. Mary Rickert walked me through a witch's garden by moonlight, perfectly invoking a magic place where lies smell like salt, memories taste of ash and honey, and ghosts whisper their last secrets to a girl on the verge of womanhood. THE MEMORY GARDEN is a mother daughter love story, soaked with intrigue and seasoned with both regret and the most lovely kind of breathless hope. Don't miss this one." -Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Someone Else's Love Story"A potent brew of guilty secrets and tragic histories, but also of enduring friendship and love. Add a pinch of the botanical. Serve on a luminous night faintly reminiscent of A Midsummer Night's Eve. A totally charming, totally engaging story told by Rickert, a magus of the first order. Magic in every line." -Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Jane Austen Book Club"Rickert writes with a blend of poetical language and dark suspense... 'TheMemory Garden' is a tale of tragedy, hope and kinship." -The Washington Post"TheMemory Gardenis a lovely book of women, friendship, sadness and healing, and it is genuinely uplifting. Like the garden of its title, this is a book to take in slowly, to spend time in, to wander through; you'll likely find yourselves the better for it." -NPR Books"A wise portrayal of the way women relate to each other, of how communities deal with their outsiders, of how secrets are held among friends, with the strands of narrative united by the garden and its flowers. But it's also a superb fantasy novel. The supernatural elements may be as carefully measured and restrained as in a Graham Joyce novel... but the magic is real." -The Chicago Tribune"Unwinds the magic and mystery of a mother and daughter and three old friends, all at the fragile juncture of truth and forgiveness. Rickert can build an audience that will marvel at her witchy talents." -Publishers Weekly starred review"[A] bewitching marvel of a book." -BookPage"With its fairy-tale qualities, this debut novel is sure to charm ... Readers who enjoy the magical realism of novels by Sarah Addison Allen, Laura Esquivel, and Alice Hoffman will savor Rickert's mesmerizing and magical novel of friendship and family." -Library Journal"Mary Rickert's debut novel is absolutely stunning. An emotionally complex story bridges the divide between the past and the present, between generations, and between age-old friendships compromised by a web of secrets and lies. Be prepared to fall under this novel's strange and sensuous spell." -Christopher Barzak, author of One for Sorrow"Rickert has created a slew of magical and unforgettable characters that will steal readers' breath away. This is a great story that must be devoured in one sitting." -RT Book Reviews