Even trees have secrets... (The Savage Garden - Mark Mills)

Member Name: louanna8

Product:	The Savage Garden - Mark Mills
Date:	23/08/09 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unusual topic, not too bad

Disadvantages: Slow moving, boring at times

The Savage Garden is a 2007 novel written by Mark Mills. It is set mostly in 1958 Italy particularly in the Tuscany region. I read it last week after finding it in a sale at my local library and though was slightly intrigued was not exactly impressed.

~Plot~
When Adam Strickland, a bright but quite lazy history student at Cambridge University, leaves England for Tuscany he is blissfully unaware of the thrills that await him. He is sent by his Professor to write a unique thesis on a very special garden belonging to the noble Docci family. Created in 1577 by one Federico Docci in memory of his wife who died as a young woman the garden has many secrets that need to be unraveled.

Be it of help or hindrance to Adam, Docci's ancestors still live in the villa attached to the garden. They too have their own, more recent secrets and tales of death. The lady of the house, Signora Docci, lost her son shortly after the Second World War. The story went that the young man Emilio was remonstrating with Germans who were destroying his possessions and was consequently shot. However, as Adam delves further into the secrets of the villa and the garden he finds that all may not be exactly as it seems.

As Adam works to discover the message left by Federico Docci many centuries ago he comes starts to uncover truths closer to home. But who is trying to slow Adam down and will he ever discover the truth that has been hidden for so many years?

~My Opinion~
At first I found it difficult to understand how a decent mystery book could be written about something as mundane as a garden. I'd like to say that this book proved by quick judgments wrong but I'd be lying. Though not awful the book has several faults.

Firstly, the book is very slow moving with little happening in the first hundred or so pages. For, a book that is supposed to be a mystery this is a little disconcerting as you expect much more action. In complete contrast, the ending was much too rushed for my liking. The main characters made the journey from utter ignorance to complete comprehension in a few short pages. This made the conclusion difficult to believe and I was left feeling slightly disappointed with the ending.

Though the novel is based on a good idea Mills doesn't quite manage to pull it off. Too much dialogue and description coupled with too little action and excitement leaves us with something that resembles a poor copy of a Kate Mosse book. That said the author is clearly very gifted when it comes to description and in moderation this was very enjoyable to read. His use of language really brought the garden and Tuscany itself to life. He also crafted some interesting characters with a variety of personalities. Unfortunately I found none of them very likeable and wasn't really cheering for any one person throughout the book.

I found the information about Italian Renaissance Architecture and the stories it tells through its portrayal of Roman mythology very interesting and a nice touch to give the novel some character. However, sometimes this aspect was overdone leaving me feeling as though I was getting a history lecture rather than reading a work of fiction.

I don't believe that the book built up suspense very well as I was never anxious to find out what was going to happen next. A page-turner it most definitely is not. To give the novel its due there are some exciting, well-written moments, hence the 3 stars, but unfortunately they are just too infrequent.

This isn't a book I would recommend but not one I would completely slate either. My advice is borrow but don't buy it. It's £4.99 on Amazon at the moment which is a little expensive for something that is a little mediocre in nature.

In summary, it didn't quite hit the mark for me but those with an interest in Renaissance Architecture would probably find it more satisfying.

Summary: Not too bad, but not great either.