Andrew Strickland is a somewhat unfocused art history student at Cambridge University. His work is rather lackadaisical, drawing heavily on his source material without coming to many original conclusions. He prefers to spend his days drinking with friends and has given little thought to his thesis. After all, it’s not due for a year. tEverything changes when Andrew’s mentor, Professor Leonard, assigns him to a special summer project. The owner of a famous memorial garden in Tuscany has requested that Professor Leonard find someone to write a scholarly monograph exploring the symbolism in the garden. Andrew accepts the assignment, hoping he’s on the track of a good thesis.tThe Docci garden, dedicated to the memory of a fifteenth century nobleman’s young wife, is peaceful, secluded and filled with classical symbols. Previous scholars have drawn parallels between the garden’s statuary and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. As Andrew delves into the garden’s meandering paths and shadowy grotto, however, he comes to suspect that the hidden meaning is much more sinister. Could it be that the garden serves as much more than a memorial to a tragically deceased young woman? Is it possible that the carefully chosen references and precisely placed ornaments describe the method and motive of her murder? Do the clues in the garden point to the identity of her murderer?Signora Docci is the matriarch of the Docci family. She resides in the family villa, built shortly before the death of the nobleman’s wife. She is the keeper of the family history, leading Andrew gently towards the truth and doling out information in tantalizingly small morsels. tAndrew’s investigation into centuries-old events unearths a much fresher murder hidden in the shadows of the Docci villa. Signora Docci’s eldest son, Emilio, was murdered by Nazis on the third floor of the villa during the final days of German occupation. The rooms, sealed off by Signore Docci, are frozen in time. They forever provide a precise snapshot of the rooms as they were the evening of Emilio’s murder.After Signore Docci’s death, Signora Docci abided by his wishes, keeping the rooms under lock and key. Like the garden, the untouched rooms contain clues – clues that might lead an inquisitive mind to wonder who really killed Emilio, and why. In The Savage Garden, Mark Mills has created a fascinating and conflicted world. The beauty of the garden, the villa and the Tuscan countryside belies the brutality that lies just beneath the surface. Blood spilled, whether it was 400 years ago or in recent memory, will have its voice. Mills masterfully reveals each piece of the puzzle, drawing his readers along at an almost leisurely pace. The story reads like a lazy summer afternoon – each new clue is discovered in its own time. Yet the murders add an urgent undercurrent to the narrative, pulling the readers forward until all is understood.I enjoyed this novel. It was a change of pace from the suspense fiction I read so often. The Savage Garden forced me to slow down. The beautiful descriptions, intriguing mystery and references to classical literature demanded that this story be savored rather than devoured. Mills’ vivid descriptions brought his people and places to life, allowing me to completely lose myself in his story each time I opened the book.I can’t think of a better way to spend a long, hot summer afternoon!(Review published in the Burlington Times-News, 7/22/2007)
Um jovem estudante da universidade de Cambridge é convidado por um professor para realizar uma tese baseada num misterioso jardim. De início a ideia parece absurda, mas depois de considerar todas as possibilidades Adam aceita o convite e viaja para a Toscana, Itália, a fim de concretizar esse projecto. Mas tudo o que parece ser, não o é. E a viagem de Adam, desde o primeiro minuto, está programada por alguém que necessita dele, que precisa urgentemente de uma marioneta de modo a conseguir o que quer. Mas o que não se apercebem é que Adam tem uma capacidade extraordinária de relaccionar factos e dados que para a maioria das mentes não teriam qualquer ligação, e é neste ponto que talvez Adam consiga fugir, ainda com vida, da teia de intrigas e mentiras em que tentam envolvê-lo.A sinopse atraiu-me como uma mosca a um doce. A expectativa era grande e, em parte, este livro não desiludiu. O livro está muito bem escrito, as personagens estão bem construídas, e a teia de intrigas... foi o melhor deste livro! No entanto, ansiava por adrenalina e crime logo nas primeiras páginas e não foi isso que aconteceu. Este livro tem um ritmo semelhante aos livros da grande Agatha Christie, em que nós só chegamos a descobrir a verdade apenas com a leitura do último capítulo. É claro que o génio de Agatha Christie é único, e apesar de Mark Mills ter uma boa imaginação, as pistas que vai deixando permitem ao leitor adivinhar a maior parte do que verdadeiramente se passa. No entanto, o final... surpreendeu e faz-me desejar reler este livro daqui a um bom tempo. Quando tiver esquecido da maioria dos detalhes, só para ver se os meus sentimentos mudam. Suspeito que sim... que irei gostar ainda mais dele.
What do You think about The Savage Garden (2015)?
Cambridge student Adam Strickland is handed the opportunity of a lifetime, a two week trip to Tuscany to study the 17th century garden at the Villa Docci. Never before studied, it's the perfect thesis topic. When he arrives, Adam finds both villa and garden enchanting, and somehow mysterious. The elderly Signora Docci and her granddaughter Antonella are equally charming. But as Adams delves into the garden's many enigmatic features, he begins to question the reasons behind its design. The garden is not, it seems, a tribute to a lovely wife who died too young. And there's something strange about the Docci family, whose son Emilio was killed by the Germans on the villa's upper story, now shuttered, locked, and unused. Delving into Dante and Ovid, Adam is determined to ferret out the hidden messages that he's convinced underlie the selection and arrangement of statuary within the garden. He also sets out to discover the facts concerning Emilio's murder, nearly ending up murdered himself.Author Mills' depiction of 1950's Tuscany is a vivid one. Thematically, he weaves together art, poetry, and history with polish, and his characters shine. And the denouement comes as a complete surprise. Superlative literary mystery, highly recommended.
—Linda
This is an unusual book abut an English college student in the 1950's who goes to Italy to write a thesis on a Renaissance garden that still exists. The garden was created by the original owner of the attached house in memory of his dead wife. The student quickly figures out that all is not as it appears -- either in the garden's symbolism and the story it tells or in the locked up 3rd floor of the attached house.In all honesty, a lot of things about this book could have been better. I would have liked more texture of 1950's Italy. There were some potentially interesting characters who could have used a lot more dimension, but this book isn't really about those things. This book is about the ability of a garden to captivate and communicate across the centuries. In college I had a Professor whose field was Italian and English Renaissance gardens and their role in literature, so this was something of old home week for me.
—Elaine Dowling
This book was hard for me to get into. The redeeming part was the descriptions of the garden. Though I'm not really into Greek Mythology, the way the statues were described made me feel like I was right there walking through the garden with Adam. The explanations of the hidden meaning in the statues was something of a reach for me to grasp, as was the top floor of the villa being sealed off for so many years. The relationship between Adam and his brother, the way he worried about his mother, the portrait of the Signora, Maria, Antoinette, and other characters, these things made me care a little more for the story.I believe the author's writing was superb, I just don't think this was the book for me. You may love it...so don't let my opinion sway you from giving it a try!
—Cindy
