Virago Modern Classics

By the author of Black Narcissus and The River

''A masterpiece of construction and utterly realistically convincing'' JACQUELINE WILSON
''Godden''s rich understanding of human nature, her humor and her beautiful prose inevitably leave one aglow'' CHICAGO TRIBUNE
''Godden here tries her deft writing hand at landscaping a child''s heart'' TIME

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Someone has been digging up the private garden in the Square. Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of local boys is to blame, but her sister, Olivia, isn''t so sure. She wonders why the neighbourhood children - ''sparrows'' she calls them - have to be locked out: don''t they have a right to enjoy the garden too?

Nobody has any idea what sends Lovejoy Mason and her few friends in search of ''good garden earth''. Still less do they imagine where their investigation will lead them - to a struggling restaurant, a bombed-out church, and, at the heart of it all, a hidden garden.

''Only Rumer Godden could make a simple tale of a forbidden garden pulse with suspense'' NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE BOOK REVIEW