Tom's Midnight Garden

Another children’s classic I’ve only just taken off my TBR shelf! This book was so much better than I was expecting, with really big themes of time, religion, memory, solitude and growing up underpinning a great plot line. The story follows Tom as he’s sent away from home over the summer holidays because his brother has the measles. He goes to stay in a poky flat with his Aunt and Uncle, but soon discovers that the concrete backyard magically turns into an enchanting garden when the grandfather clock strikes midnight. The garden is a real English fantasy, with a high wall, vegetable garden, greenhouse and a heating house, plenty of trees for climbing and an orchard. The garden looks out onto a meadow with a river running through it.

Tom became aware that for some time the garden had been filling with sounds - the sound of leaves moving in morning winds, and all the minute living, breathing sounds of trees and bushes and plants and insects. The sun’s rays gleamed over all the garden, warming it to life and sucking up the drenching dew; the sundials iron finger threw a shadow at last, and told the time.

Throughout Tom’s journey and (spoiler) realisation that this garden - and indeed the house - is the very same one he is staying in, just a century before, also speaks to the industrial revolution. There is a feeling of great loss, as the river that a young woman could once skate down becomes polluted and littered. The haunting elegance of the house, and it’s residents as they slowly grow up gives a slight ethereal quality - but not in a scary way. I really enjoyed the character development, especially Hatty’s - our female protagonist.

Inquisitive and thoughtful, the book made me ponder what my neighbourhood looked like a century ago. I’d highly recommend it for children aged 7 upwards.