The Savage Garden

 by Mark Mills
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Adam Strickland is a Cambridge scholar who has taken a slightly lazy approach to his studies. His professor suggests a trip to Italy to study a famous garden. The professor believes that this will pique Adam's interest.

Naturally, there is a secret in this garden, a cipher, and Adam also believes there is a secret to be discovered in the villa itself. His natural instinct or maybe nosiness in disguise soon leads him to some startling conclusions about both the recent and the centuries ago past.

I don't know if it could be called brashness or arrogance when he begins to delve into the personal lives of the occupants of the Villa Docci. He is definitely has no problems with blurting out his suspicions. As one person told him 'You have been here hardly a week! What business is it of yours?'


He certainly takes liberties as he toys with the rules of the house and the emotions of it's inhabitants.

Aside from that as he digs into the meaning of the statuary in the garden he has to use all his classical knowledge to piece together this enigma. The reader is educated as well as they are reminded of ancient myths and allegories. I am also tempted to read the book Adam was reading which was Dorothy Sayers' translation of Dante's epic poem The Inferno.