(Minor spoilers—nothing big.)
Again Jonathan Auxier tells an intriguing story with compelling, interesting characters, while dealing with the question of ‘What is a story, and what is it for?’ in a way that both a child and an adult can understand and appreciate. Set amid the Irish potato famine and English prejudice against the Irish, and in a time when children would rather risk dangerous work and living conditions than an orphanage, Auxier still sprinkles in jewels and opens shafts of light to shine on a dark world.
Characters & Consequences
Unlike in his later novel Sweep, there is little beauty and wonder in the world here. England is bleak, and most of the events take place under the haunting shadow of the Tree. Only the silver flowers bespeak the beauty that dwelt there of old, and only near the end does that beauty resurface. However, the story contains much hope and even some humour throughout, all of which comes from the characters themselves. In contrast to Peter and the Shadow Thieves (PSH), a children’s book by a different author which I recently finished, this story lets the main characters—all the characters, in fact—have strengths and weaknesses, make mistakes and then choose whether to learn from them or not. Auxier shows that different people have different dispositions to certain temptations, and that giving in a little does start to change you, begins a pattern of vice that will only grow. There’s an excellent line in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov in which Alyosha tells his brother Mitya that he is not different than Mitya, since Alyosha is on the second or third step, and Mitya on the twelfth—but what does it matter since they lead to the same place? That is, the only difference between a great deceiver and one who occasionally tells a ‘white lie’ or ‘just a story’ is that the latter has not yet reached the former; but both will end up together if things don’t change. This is what Molly learns: not only that lying is wrong and hurts others, but that it sets one on a path from which there is no turning without the cessation of lying. In this way, and in overcoming their temptations, she and Kip learn to empathise with and pity others who have fallen into similar temptations, even if they don’t seem very pitiable, such as Alistair. There are not many characters in this book—none more than there need be—and each one is right and proper and interesting in his place.
While in the end the children triumph over temptation and save lives, the lives lost and the wounded relationships do not feel lessened in weight (unlike in PSH). Rather, the relationship between Molly and Kip grew in the same way that, when a string is cut in half and then retied together, the ends are now closer than they were before. But this is only accomplished after owning up to their faults and seeking to repair them. And there are some other characters whose “comeuppance” is less happy.
Molly also learns a wonderful lesson about the relationship between stories and the truth:
‘A story helps folks face the world, even when it frightens ’em. And a lie does the opposite. It helps you hide.’
I love children’s books, and they tend to help me a lot, by dealing with life questions in a simple but deep way. Simple, rather than a complex analysis, so that the mystery remains, shining forth unobscured by vain attempts at comprehension instead of childlike understanding and wonder. If wonder at the beauty of the world formed a central theme of Auxier’s Sweep, wonder at the beauty of the human person, with all their sorrows, fears, strengths, weaknesses, and potential for virtue forms the core of this one. Molly, Kip, and the others feel real emotions, but Molly and Kip learn that feelings are not as important as truth—truth that can be communicated by stories or distorted by lies. Thus, although at first Kip follows his feelings and seeks out the tree’s Gift, he later throws it away, recognising it for what it is—a lie, a trick, a temporary solution that would entrap him and make him weaker, not stronger. This courage and faithfulness to the truth, when the lie appealed so strongly to his desires, causes Molly to say that he is the bravest person she’s ever known. Good stories appeal to what we need, not what we want. That’s why they can be so sad, but so good—like life. So Molly says, ‘But that’s how the tree works, ain’t it? It gives you what you wish for but not in a way that makes things better. I suppose that’s the difference between what you want and what you need.’
Writing & Pacing
The writing itself is also excellent. Vivid descriptions lay scattered about and draw the reader into the world Kip and Molly warily traverse, a dark and unfriendly world, but not without beauty, though sometimes it lies hidden. ‘Steam rose from the soil like a phantom, carrying with it a whisper of autumn smoke that had been lying dormant in the frosty underground.’
The pacing had the tantalising upward tread of a good suspense/horror story, with little upbeats throughout; though not so action-packed that the reader lost the subtle dread of a slow moving shadow. The climax was a bit lengthened out, with a sort of double-climax that to me kept it from seeming rushed. There is first the encounter with the Night Gardener and the children, the doctor, and Hester; in between this and the next scene lies the agonising decision to go back for the family and try to convince them to leave; and then the surprise with the two ruffians and the subsequent climax with the Night Gardener, which itself had a good length, drawing out the suspense as we know the Night Gardener is coming, but not knowing how they will escape both him and the ruffians. (The surprise of the ruffians showing up was foreseeable, unless you’re like me and never see these things coming. It is pleasanter, I think, not to see them coming.) I really don’t like climaxes that wrap up too quickly, nor books that are just constantly action-packed, so I quite enjoyed this.
In the end, I’ve no complaints about it! Jonathan Auxier is a really good writer. I think his book Sweep is better, but mostly because it deals with deeper themes of beauty in the ordinary and hope amidst sorrow. This book definitely deals with beauty and courage, I just thought that Sweep went deeper on some of the same themes and more. Which, since it succeeded The Night Gardener, means Auxier is only improving!
Note: I read this book a while ago, and have just reread it. It is well worth rereading. Both times I listened to the audiobook, which is excellent. Since rereading it, I have read the speech “Courage” by J. M. Barrie, which was one of the works that inspired this one. It is excellent and well worth reading. I have also begun Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, which I believe Auxier said was the main inspiration for The Night Gardener. I am coming to better appreciate the latter by reading the former, which even inspired Auxier’s division of the novel into three parts, with the same names as in Bradbury’s novel.
The Curious Critic 