THE NIGHT GARDENER

Jonathan Auxier’s second novel is a Victorian ghost story in the tradition of Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe. More than just a spooky tale, it is a moral fable about the nature of human greed and the power of storytelling. With Auxier’s exquisite command of language, The Night Gardener is a mesmerizing read and a classic in the making.

It’s not as if Molly and her younger brother Kip haven’t been warned about the Windsor Estate and the surrounding sourwoods, but what are they to do? They are an ocean away from home, with their parents in a place Molly doesn’t dare tell Kip about, and they need work in order to provide food and shelter for themselves. When they finally reach the dilapidated Windsor mansion, it doesn’t seem quite as bad as it could be – although a disconcertingly looming, giant tree is setting Molly’s hair on edge. And she’s right to be troubled, for it is not the odd but mostly harmless Windsor family that she and Kip need to be afraid of, but the tree and a shadowy figure that only appears under cover of darkness.... Jonathan Auxier teaches creative writing and children’s literature. He is the author of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, which the Wall Street Journal called “as delightful a magical story as readers ages 9–14 will hope to find.” He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and daughter.