The Garden is not thriving. In fact, it is withering away. Once a little orchid haven, now after the worst hurricane ever seen in Florida, it is wrecked greenhouses, creeping mangroves and dangerously idle men. So when Romeo, an expert breeder of the lucrative ghost orchid, arrives from Honduras, keeper of the Garden, Blanchard, and his Irish right-hand man, Swallow, believe the winds of fortune are blowing their way.
But Romeo is not who he seems, and Swallow can't shake the feeling that the newcomer will threaten his position in the Garden's flimsy hierarchy. And the ghost orchid is rare, a delicate and endangered species, hidden deep in a sweltering and treacherous cypress swamp, the Fakahatchee Strand. To capture it, Blanchard and Swallow must strike a deal with the leader of the local Seminole tribe, and his dangerously unpredictable nephew, Logan. The tribe are the only ones exempt from the laws protecting the endangered species of the glades, but Logan's wounded pride, and the looming threat of violence, may just uproot any hope of success. As Blanchard's obsession distracts him from what is truly precious, Swallow's own long-buried traumas test his ability - and desire - to prevent the lust, betrayal and murder that engulf the Garden.
Under a scorching sun, Paul Perry's debut solo novel is a tale of smothering power, with loyalty and agency thwarted by the tragic patterns of memory and behaviour. Told in spare, exact prose, The Garden is a modern fable, and a warning about trespassing against nature in the name of profit.
"[An] urgent, eloquent rebuke to our pillaging of nature." The Irish Times
"Paul Perry's ambitious and atmospheric first solo novel is fascinating and disturbing in equal measure." The Independent, Ireland
Paul Perry is an award-winning poet and novelist. He has published several collections of poetry, most recently "Blindsight" (above / ground press, 2020). He also co-authored four international bestselling novels as Karen Perry, including "The Innocent Sleep", with Penguin Random House. He directs the Creative Writing Programme at University College Dublin. "The Garden" is his debut novel as Paul Perry.
