This is the 2nd book that I have read by the author. Whilst I enjoyed this book, I felt that is was lacking something that I can't quite put my finger on. It was pleasant enough and probably a good book to read on holiday and I certainly liked the book's focus. It was just missing that spark that makes a book impossible to put down.

This book tells a story about finding new profound relationships and friendships and maintaining the old ones through the revival of a garden. Winston has an annoying neighbour named Bernice, who never allows him any peace. As the story unfolds, readers see both the restoration and blooming of a beautiful garden and a friendship between the two.

I loved the switching POVs, the present POVs of Winston and Bernice and the past POV of Maya. I also loved how all the threads came together in the end to create a beautiful literary tapestry. It's a slow paced read that is heartwarming, and it is true that I enjoyed it less solely because of the pace. Still, it is a book for anyone who is looking for a warm literary hug.

A tale of blossoming - both friendships and gardens.
A beautiful story of two slightly warring neighbours who are brought together by a run-down garden and the echo's of a long-forgotten haven.
When the neighbours begin receiving old clippings from newspapers about the community garden it plants a seed and they begin to work together to restore the garden to its former glory and uncover the story of the past.

This was a pure joy to read. It was uplifting and heart warming. I'm a very keen gardener myself so understand the power of a garden and the mental wellbeing it can bring. The premise of a garden bringing a community together is really relatable to me.
A pure joy.

Do you love a story that pulls at your heartstrings and gives you all the warm fuzzies? Then, The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams is the book for you. This beautiful novel sweeps through the 1970s and a modern-day corner of London, bringing together a community in a neglected garden. The Twilight Garden tells a life-affirming story of small spaces, small pleasures, and love. This book review will dive into the beautiful relationships and touching moments that make The Twilight Garden a must-read.

The story is set between the houses of No.77 and No.79 Eastbourne Road, where a neglected community garden lies. Winston at No.79 loves the garden’s gate being firmly closed to avoid his new irritating next-door neighbour. But, when a mystery parcel with photographs of the neglected community garden drops on Winston’s doormat, a seed of an idea is planted.

Sara Nisha Adams took me on a journey where relationships and lives intertwine. She tells the story beautifully, using poetic description and vivid prose, giving the garden, characters, and relationships real depth. The Twilight Garden is a heart-warming and uplifting story about a community coming together and finding love, grace, and understanding in each other.

The novel illustrates how the sense of community can hold individuals together and heal the parts they struggle to face alone. It’s not all roses; the book highlights some of the character's personal struggles, but the garden provides an escape and a healing place for everyone. I loved how the author used the garden as the central theme. As the characters restored the garden's beauty, so they too, restored their own lives.

The Twilight Garden is a touching reminder of how life's small pleasures and spaces overshadow the biggest and most significant setbacks. I found the imagery striking and the characters’ stories and development compelling. I was moved by the characters in the story and their personal growth. The novel's central message was about finding love, compassion, and healing among a community in a small forgotten garden.

The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams is a beautiful story of relationships and lives intertwining. It’s a heart-warming and affirming story about the power of community, love, and grace and how small spaces and pleasures can overshadow life's most significant setbacks. The author's choice of using the garden as the central theme was superbly done and gave the narrative a poetic feel. If you're searching for a beautifully written novel that tells a compelling story of love, forgiveness, and personal growth, look no further than The Twilight Garden. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story that pulls on your heartstrings.

I loved the cover and the description of the book however I did find it a bit of a slow burner, I struggled to really get into it & it took me a while to get through,
That being said, I liked the dual time line (always a fan of a DTL) and the characters were interesting.

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done a fantastic job of creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. The language is clear, concise, and evocative, with descriptions that bring the setting and characters to life. Dialogue is natural and authentic, and the pacing is well-balanced, with enough tension and release to keep the reader engaged.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Oh this book was absolutely delightful. It really dug its heels into my heart. The characters were top notch and fun to be around. The various friendships and behaviours made me laugh numerous times. I urge everyone to read it and I’m jealous of anyone who gets to read it for the first time.

I was drawn to The Twilight Garden solely by the beautiful cover.
The book didn’t quite live up to my expectations as I found it sluggish and a little long-winded in places, but it was still an enjoyable story.

Set in dual timelines from the 1970’s to the present day, we learn how a neglected garden is brought back to life, while bringing together some interesting characters from diverse backgrounds.

Despite the slow pace, it is a heartwarming and uplifting story . 3.5*

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

I was attracted by the premise of this book - a neglected garden than draws people together. It sounded a perfect feel good read that would make an interesting break between the thrillers I've been reading of late, but I found it a bit slow to get going and a bit sluggish in parts, which detracted from the beautiful descriptions of the garden changing and the drawing together of the community.
Maya and Prem are newly arrived in the UK from Africa and go to live in the house that Maya's sister was living in until recently. For some reason the garden is shared with the neighbouring house and in order to use it Maya must negotiate the prickly woman, Alma, who lives next door and who considers the outside space to be her domain. After a tricky start the two households become great friends and open the garden to friends and neighbours to use and relax in.
Meanwhile in a more recent timeline 2019-2020, Winston is living in Maya's house and Bernice, a newly single mother is living in Alma's house. Winston is dismayed as his partner, Lewis is pulling away from him and seeks refuge in the overgrown garden. Bernice however, objects to him being there, seeing the garden as her territory. For a while they exist in a state of war until packages of photos and cuttings about the garden in the days of Maya and Alma begin dropping through their letter boxes.
The story is, in short, a feel good one, and has a nice circularity to it. I had problems getting to grips with the character, especially Winston, who seemed inappropriately named for a Gujarati, from India born in the 1980's. Infact, many the characters, despite being of various different origins, had very English sounding names. My other grief with the book was that author often told us how the characters were feeling. I could have done with more showing, allowing me as a reader to interpret their moods according to their actions.
But all in all it is a slower paced novel with many heartwarming scenes covering issues of loss and love, race and discrimination, and dealing with family who are far away. Descriptions of the garden were particularly vivid and especially the foxes who stole the show.
With thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

The Twilight Garden was another impulse request on NetGalley. I liked the cover and thought it would be a nice break from all the heavy stuff I had on my upcoming list, not to talk about a nice genre break from Fantasy. I haven’t read Sara Nisha Adams‘ previous novel, so I had no idea what to expect. I basically just wanted a nice book with nothing too complicated. On that account, The Twilight Garden delivered nicely.

The Twilight Garden is a story within the story type of novel, in which we follow the events on two timelines. One timeline is set in the present(ish) of 2019-2020 with Bernice and Winston in the focus, while the other timeline tells the story of Maya and Apple throughout the 1970s and ’80s. What connects them is a small garden and two old houses that share said garden in the London suburb.

Maya is in her twenties when she and her husband, Prem arrive in London from Kenya, following in her sister’s footsteps. They rent the house she and her family rented before them, with a big garden and a prickly neighbour, Alma. At first, she struggles in her new environment, but as she slowly makes friends with Alma through gardening together, she gets to know the community, finds new friends, and eventually builds a happy life with her own family. And when tragedy strikes, her found family is there to help her through it all.

Winston’s been living in the same house where Maya and her family lived for five years now, with his partner, Lewis. He came to London from India to work in the bank industry as his father wanted, but that was never his path, and eventually settled for working at the nearby grocery store. While Lewis remains extremely busy with work, the pair slowly grows apart. And on top of it all, the house that stood empty for decades, suddenly has a new owner, Bernice, a freshly divorced mother of a young boy. They constantly war with each other for one thing or another. Prompted by mysterious letters dropped on his doorstep with pictures and articles about the garden in its prime, Winston decides to further annoy Bernice by taking up gardening and restoring the garden. And while it seems like the world is falling apart for both Winston and Bernice, the garden’s magic does its work.

I found The Twilight Garden an interesting read. It was a slice-of-life kind of book which I don’t read often, but it sure was a nice change. I enjoyed reading about the lives of these people, their everyday struggles, and the way their friendships evolved naturally. I found it engaging, if sometimes a bit boring. But it was also fascinating to read about these parallel lives that were so different but at the same time had some similarities. And how the same place can be so different for the people occupying it. I enjoyed the slow build, the way we really got to know the key characters, and the way they were written, they felt very real. I wished the side characters were a bit more rounded/interesting, though. They could have added more depth to the story.

And while we are at it, The Twilight Garden touches upon several societal issues – racism, diaspora, the clash of cultures, the insecurity LGBTQ people feel not just in Western cultures (Winston has Indian origins, and he’s been hiding his work and identity from his parents for fear of disappointing them) and how they face the same problems as any other couples. These are all very interesting and serious topics that need discussion, but the thing is, I felt that while the book does touch upon these issues, it does very lightly, only just scratching the surface. I think I wanted to know more about how the characters feel about these issues, something deeper. There was just something missing for me to really connect with them – and this book.

In conclusion, I had a nice time with The Twilight Garden. Probably could have used a trimming in reflections on societal issues and a deeper exploration of the remaining ones, but it certainly can make one think about these things. It’s generally a feel-good slice-of-life story about friendship, found families, and the power of nature that connects us all, whether we want it or not. Life can be lonely, especially if you are far away from home, or your loved ones (physically or otherwise), but there is always a community just on the other side of the gate, waiting for you to discover it. If you are brave enough to open up.

Sara's Reading List was a beautiful, touching story of people coming together to help each other in ways even they didn't know they needed. That one centered around books and reading; this one is about gardening, but that's only the topic. What they're about is the connections forged by people, even when they don't intend to, even when they think they're doing something quite different.

This story is told in two timelines, which is usually a device I don't like, but here it really seemed to work. We had an idea how the older track would end up, from things said in the younger track, but watching it happen was still amazing. I don't know a lot about gardening, but I was able to follow along with everything they were doing (who knew you could grow bananas in London? Not I.)

This is a wonderful, heartwarming book, apart from the section that ripped my heart out of my chest and did a little dance on it. All the rest was amazing, though! Sara is carving out a niche for herself and I will definitely be reading her next books. Fantastic.

In a Nutshell: A heart-warming story filled with some endearing characters. A bit meandering in its approach, but good for a relaxing read.

Story Synopsis:
2018. Stoke Newington, London. Winston, who stays with his partner Lewis at House no. 79, is fed up of his new neighbour Bernice’s snooty attitude. Sadly, numbers 79 and 77 share the back garden, and the Winston and Bernice can’t meet eye to eye on their plans for the space.
However, when some memories from the past are rejuvenated courtesy some mysterious letters and photographs, Winston decides to turn the plot into a community garden, just as it was in the past. Now it is up to Bernice to decide if she wants to work with him, or go against him, or simply ignore him.
The story comes to us from two timelines, with third person perspectives of Winston and Bernice in the contemporary timeline, and some other key characters from the 1970s timeline.

Bookish Yays:
💐 All the gardening- related elements are wonderful. Every plant lover will enjoy seeing the titular garden bloom.
💐 The found-family kind of storyline works well with neighbours coming together over shared interests, past bonds and future plans.
💐 The story generates a strong nostalgia of the good old days when all of us knew every neighbour and even met regularly, rather than today’s world where more interactions happen online than offline. The plot covers a variety of emotions, including some uncommon ones such as homesickness.
💐 Because Winston is gay and in a relationship with Lewis, the warring neighbours trope thankfully doesn’t turn into an enemy-to-lovers trope. I loved how both Bernice and Winston try to outdo each other at the start, and how the garden began with quite nefarious secret intent.
💐 There are some witty conversations, especially when Sebastian enters the scene, and some touching letter-writing as well.
💐 With quite a few Indian characters in key roles (and with an Indian origin author), the Indian rep is pretty much spot on. And with great rep comes great Indian food as well. As the characters hail from Gujarat, we are treated (only virtually) to an array of yummy Gujarati dishes. Such books always make me hungry! 😋
💐 The cover! Exactly the kind that would beckon to me from any corner of the bookstore. Just gorgeous!

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🌹 Mixed feedback about the characters. With two timelines and a story centred on a small neighbourhood, there are plenty of characters to keep track of. Some characters in the past timeline were extraneous.
In the present timeline, the characters are relatively better sketched, but again, because of the number of characters, some don’t get enough page-space to develop. Lewis especially had a lot more scope than what he is given. Winston is complex enough, though his emotions feel a bit monotonous at times. Bernice and her son Sebastian are nicely sketched, but her ex-husband Simon’s portrayal is mostly predictable.
For once, I enjoyed the contemporary timeline far better than the historical one.

Bookish Nays:
🌵 While the past track also begins with the idea of the neighbours and their shared garden, the story goes into some plot points that aren’t crucial to the main storyline, and were even boring. These could have safely been deleted (and would even have reduced the page count without any harm being done. 416 pages is way too long for this genre.)
🌵 Minor complaint #1: I can’t get my head around the idea of an Indian Gujarati Hindu character being called Winston. (And to top it, with a sister named Ruth.) Considering his age, Winston was probably born in the late 1980s in the conservative state in the pre-liberalisation period, so unless his mom was greatly inspired by Winston Churchill, I can’t figure out how the kids were given such Western names.
🌵 Minor complaint #2: It’s not a banana tree, but a banana plant! (Well, a herb, technically, but “banana herb” sounds too awkward.) Maybe the general populace wouldn’t know this, but as avid gardening enthusiasts, the characters should have known better.

All in all, the complaints are relatively muted. This is a story about death and renewal, separations and unity, love and loss. If you are looking for an emotional, medium-paced read with heart-warming scenes and interesting characters, this is a good book to try out.

3.75 stars.

My thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Twilight Garden”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Set in the 1970s in Stoke Newington, before gentrification and all the buzzy new places that have opened there. The story focuses on a garden shared by two very different sets of neighbours and shows how important it is to build good relationships with those around you - and the sense of community from a shared endeavour. I read this with interest and amusement, having shared our neighbours garden in a previous house as a mini allotment. This is a lovely read, made me feel all cosy!

In the 1970s when Maya and Premi move into 79 Eastbourne Road they desperately want to get on with their neighbour Alma. They achieve this by working with her in the shared garden and over the years form a strong bond.
In the present, Winston lives at no 79 with Lewis. Lewis works all hours and a new neighbour has moved in next door and done extensive renovations. Winston has nicknamed her the Queen of Sheba as nothing he does appears to be correct to her and the shared garden is a bone of contention.
With the stories being told in both timelines, we see how barriers can be broached, prejudices overcome and friendships formed.
A lovely book.

Cute story and interesting idea, but for the life of me I couldn't really get into it.

What initially attracted me to this novel was the idea of a neglected garden that will bring people together. I found that an interesting concept which reminded me a bit of what happened in my local park: a community garden that is bringing a huge community together at a time when forging relationships doesn't seem to happen easily.

And in many ways this is what we get in The Twilight Garden: stories of developing relationships(love and friendships) and the forging of a community in adverse times and between people from diverse backgrounds.
Unfortunately the story failed to truly grip me. It went from mild interested to boredom and skipped paragraphs because I just could muster up enough interest for the endless details and uninteresting dialogues.

"The Twilight Garden" by Sara Nisha Adams really resonated with me, about how a garden can bring people together. Set in the 1970s and in the near present, you see 2 very different sets of neighbours, united over a shared garden. It was such a touching story and you really did feel the strong sense of community in the Stoke Newington street. I just wished I had a communal garden to go to, it would have been something to look forward to after lockdown.

A slow burn read with beautiful moments. The time changes didn’t always feel cohesive to me and I struggled to connect to the characters but it was an interesting read.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Twilight Garden', a story about Stoke Newington neighbours Winston and Bernice and their shared garden. It felt like two books for the price of one as the story of the community garden, its previous owners, friends and families came to light. A heart-warming, and sometimes heart-breaking, book that is a little oasis in the hustle and bustle of todays world and one well worth reading. Thanks to the author, the publisher and netgalley for an arc.

I think I was a bit torn on my feelings to this book. I absolutely loved the concept of a garden that bears witness to all the community drama and spirit over the years and how it is the focus of the meetings between the neighbours that share it. I did struggle with the timelines swapping, which I don't normally mind in a timeslip novel, but this was one I found lost the thread a bit. I felt more invested in the modern day story than the 70s and there were a few accuracy things I felt didn't work.
It's a slow burn of a book, but it has it's beautiful moments