When I attended Holly Black’s book tour earlier this year, she shared that Wren, her main character in The Prisoner’s Throne series, was hard to write because she wouldn’t “protag.” Meaning that Wren did not want to participate in the events unfolding around her, which made her a very interesting character to follow. Well, I have another book for you that features a leading lady who also wants to remove herself from the narrative. This time, there’s a young Victorian woman who would much rather stay at home than participate in the patriarchal world showcased in Chelsea Iversen’s novel, The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt.
Harriet Hunt’s father has gone missing, so she takes full advantage of the freedom his absence grants her. That doesn’t mean she walks the neighborhood or fills her social calendar, Harriet was never allowed such frivolities growing up at Sunnyside. Instead, she entombs herself in the dreary home, tending to her garden and welcoming the infrequent visits from her cousin. But when an inspector begins to question Harriet about her father’s disappearance, she realizes how vulnerable she is. Harriet is desperate to find a way to prove her innocence and with few options granted to an unchaperoned young woman, Harriet will place her trust in the people who begin to take an interest in her, for better or for worse.
There’s a lot of mystery to uncover in Harriet’s story. Her father has disappeared, the circumstances around her mother’s death are unknown, a strange man seems adamant in courting her, and the garden is alive and attuned to Harriet. The details surrounding these mysteries are revealed at a snail’s pace, and most, if not all, of the answers arrive in one big explosion at the end of the story. By the time these details were revealed, I had lost interest in the mysteries completely because so little was shared for the first 80% of the story that I had to shift my focus to Harriet’s survival instead. I also would have loved way more exposition on Harriet’s connection with the garden. It was such a central part of the story, but it’s not fully explored in a meaningful way. The mysteries hovered around the edges of this story, and instead, the focus stays on our shy protagonist navigating the worst nightmare possible.
At first, I was frustrated by Harriet’s inaction throughout this story. She is not a dynamic protagonist, and she meets most of the events unfolding around her with a grim, resolute acceptance. The horrors keep happening to a dispirited protagonist, who is not a grab-a-bull-by-the-horns type of character. Harriet’s situation is horrible, and I was suffocating under the constraints of her life as things kept getting worse. Eventually, I realized that her lack of action did a wonderful job of exacerbating the lack of control in her own life for the reader. I grew frustrated with Harriet’s inability to make a move, but it made me feel the helplessness that Harriet was experiencing. As a woman in Victorian England, her world was determined and controlled by the men in her family, so she truly did not have many options to save herself from the nightmare. I came to appreciate our more reserved protagonist who did not make the waves herself but found ways to seize an opportunity in the openings that were created for her.
The Peculiar Garden likes to play around with the illusion of safety and the things, or people, we think will keep us safe. Harriet searches externally for her safety, which places the power and control in the hands of those outside forces. Her response to fear rids herself of all agency and she loses so much of herself along the way. Harriet kept her social circle so small, it only allowed that fear to fester and turn on her. It effectively kept her isolated while also making her vulnerable to kindness of any sort. She’s not the big, bold protagonist found in most stories, but I like the way Iversen develops Harriet in her own quiet way to conquer her fears.
The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt takes on the personality of its timid protagonist. Instead of flash or daring, it displays the quiet calm in the eye of Harriet’s storm and her strength to withstand it all.
Rating: The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt – 6.5/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
One thought on “The Peculiar Garden of Harriet Hunt – Dig It”