At the Bottom of the Garden: A Novel by Camilla Bruce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars**
At the Bottom of the Garden is a slower, character-driven Gothic Horror (Lite) story, following two sisters, Violet and Lily, as well as their murderous Aunt Clara.
Violet and Lily become orphans after their parents are lost while on a hiking adventure on K2. According to their parent’s Will, the girl are to go live with their closest living relative, which unfortunately, happens to be Aunt Clara.
Clara has no interest in children, but Violet and Lily are sure to come with some nice assets, so she’s willing to take them in. For the moment.
Clara will just ignore them until she can get her hands on as much as their inherited fortune as she can. At least that’s the plan, but when Violet starts seeing the angry dead man pacing in the garden, a giant kink gets thrown in the works.
Not only can Violet see all of Clara’s ghosts, she can bring them back, and they’re not happy.
I liked this, particularly the beginning portions. It was interesting learning about all the main characters. I liked how it had an air of dark humor about it as well, particularly with Clara’s perspective. She says it as it is, and doesn’t bother with the audience’s potentially delicate sensibilities.
I also felt both Violet and Lily were well developed. Each of the girls has their own unique abilities that added so much to this story.
The incorporation of the spirits was also very well done. I loved the idea of them remaining to haunt Clara, but needed a bit of assistance from Violet first. For some reason, that just made sense.
I think this will work well for Readers who may want spooky vibes and gothic atmosphere, without leaning too heavily into the Horror genre. Because while there are supernatural elements to this story, it never veers into super dark, or scary, territory.
The overall vibe actually reminded me a lot of A Series of Unfortunate Events series, with Aunt Clara filling in for Count Olaf. So, think a more adult-centered version of that.
I can totally get down with those vibes, but for me, I felt like it went on a little too long. By the end, I did feel it started to drag a bit. I was ready for it to be over.
With this being said, the concepts and character development were well executed and I’m glad I picked this one up. The audiobook was well narrated and I’m definitely interested in reading more from this author.
Buzzwords: Gothic. Atmospheric. Slow Burn. Ghosties. Hauntings. Dark Humor. Sister Story.