PDF À BOOK The Savage Garden

> PDF À BOOK The Savage Garden

KINDLE The Savage Garden

PDF À BOOK The Savage Garden à The story of two murders four hundred years apart and the ties that bind them togetherFrom the author of the acclaimed national bestseller Amagansett comes an even remarkable novel set in the Tuscan hills the story of two murders four hundred years apart and the ties that bind them together Adam Banting a somewhat aimlessThe story of two murders four hundred years apart and the ties that bind them togetherFrom the author of the acclaimed national bestseller Amagansett comes an even remarkable novel set in the Tuscan hills the story of two murders four hundred years apart and the ties that bind them together Adam Banting a somewhat aimless young scholar at Cambridge University is called to his professor's office one afternoon and assigned a special summer project to write a scholarly monograph about a famous garden built in the 1500s Dedicated to the memory of Signor Docci's Prevarication Savage Garden is an engrossing and intriguing story but what raises it to another level are the very clever links with neoclassical literature especially Dante’s epic poem Divine Comedy The soul’s journey towards God from Inferno Hell through Purgatorio and onto Paradiso Heaven is one of the oldest classics I recently discovered that an Irish monk Marcus wrote his book The Vision of Tundale two centuries before Dant's Inferno and tells of the 9 levels of torture towards hell These 9 levels are a big aspect of this story but the reference is explicit about Dante's versionIn 1958 Adam Strickland is a Cambridge University art history student under the supervision of Professor Leonard and is offered a summer assignment in a Tuscan villa to research the famous memorial garden owned by Signora Docci The garden of the Docci Villa is majestic with meandering pathways sunken groves statues inscriptions and neoclassical structures On the first inspection it is art and nature coming together to provide a symbolic memorial dedicated to the memory of a nobleman’s wife On subseuent deeper inspections something feels misaligned and there are a few anomalies to the replication of the original story of Dante’s 9 circles of hell The thought strikes Adam that they might be deliberate and organised as a puzzle The suspicion adds brilliantly to the magical seductive feel of the story and conseuently uite a number of secrets are concealed in the house and garden Gradually Adam resolves some teasing clues and the mystery starts to unfoldIn post Second World War Tuscany the aftermath of the war is still remembered and pertinent The Docci villa was used by the Nazis as a base in the area and still maintains that stigma A family member was murdered during the Nazi occupation and parts of the house have been sealed ever since Amidst the suspense and deception there is a romantic interest a threat from the locals and family revelations that are shocking Mills does a wonderful job adding all these layers to an intriguing plot that plays on prejudices and weaves in a classic puzzle The pace is leisurely but it suits this story very wellI was so captivated with The Savage Garden its storyline subplots and writing style that I bought all Mark Mills’ books Mills delivers an interesting story good characters great visualisation of the surroundings and captivating and intriguing plots This was my favourite book at one time and still one I would highly recommend

MOBI Ù The Savage Garden ¸ Mark Mills

Venty something Signora Docci he finds clues to yet another possible murder this one much recent The signora's eldest son was shot by Nazi officers on the third floor of the villa and her husband now dead insisted that the area be sealed and preserved forever Like the garden the third floor rooms are frozen in time Delving into his subject Adam begins to suspect that his summer project might be a setup Is he really just the naive student stumbling upon clues or is Signora Docci using him to discover for herself the true meaning of the villa's murderous past This had the potential to deliver a riveting mystery but fell short for me The synopsis on is comprehensive so no point in rehashing the plot although the main character is Adam Strickland not Adam Banting as shown in the synopsis There are two mystery components on offer which I normally enjoy but the mystery involving Flora and her husband were not well developed Loved the setting of Tuscany but this paled in comparison to The Whaleboat House in terms of mystery and characterisation

Mark Mills ¸ The Savage Garden TEXT

The Savage GardenDead wife the garden is a mysterious world of statues grottoes meandering rills and classical inscriptions But during his three week sojourn at the villa Adam comes to suspect that clues to a murder are buried in the strange iconography of the garden the long dead Signor Docci most likely killed his wife and filled her memorial garden with pointers as to both the method and the motive of his crime As the mystery of the garden unfolds Adam finds himself drawn into a parallel intrigue Through his evolving relationship with the lady of the house the ailing se Andrew Strickland is a somewhat unfocused art history student at Cambridge University His work is rather lackadaisical drawing heavily on his source material without coming to many original conclusions He prefers to spend his days drinking with friends and has given little thought to his thesis After all it’s not due for a year Everything changes when Andrew’s mentor Professor Leonard assigns him to a special summer project The owner of a famous memorial garden in Tuscany has reuested that Professor Leonard find someone to write a scholarly monograph exploring the symbolism in the garden Andrew accepts the assignment hoping he’s on the track of a good thesis The Docci garden dedicated to the memory of a fifteenth century nobleman’s young wife is peaceful secluded and filled with classical symbols Previous scholars have drawn parallels between the garden’s statuary and Ovid’s Metamorphoses As Andrew delves into the garden’s meandering paths and shadowy grotto however he comes to suspect that the hidden meaning is much sinister Could it be that the garden serves as much than a memorial to a tragically deceased young woman Is it possible that the carefully chosen references and precisely placed ornaments describe the method and motive of her murder Do the clues in the garden point to the identity of her murdererSignora Docci is the matriarch of the Docci family She resides in the family villa built shortly before the death of the nobleman’s wife She is the keeper of the family history leading Andrew gently towards the truth and doling out information in tantalizingly small morsels Andrew’s investigation into centuries old events unearths a much fresher murder hidden in the shadows of the Docci villa Signora Docci’s eldest son Emilio was murdered by Nazis on the third floor of the villa during the final days of German occupation The rooms sealed off by Signore Docci are frozen in time They forever provide a precise snapshot of the rooms as they were the evening of Emilio’s murderAfter Signore Docci’s death Signora Docci abided by his wishes keeping the rooms under lock and key Like the garden the untouched rooms contain clues – clues that might lead an inuisitive mind to wonder who really killed Emilio and why In The Savage Garden Mark Mills has created a fascinating and conflicted world The beauty of the garden the villa and the Tuscan countryside belies the brutality that lies just beneath the surface Blood spilled whether it was 400 years ago or in recent memory will have its voice Mills masterfully reveals each piece of the puzzle drawing his readers along at an almost leisurely pace The story reads like a lazy summer afternoon – each new clue is discovered in its own time Yet the murders add an urgent undercurrent to the narrative pulling the readers forward until all is understoodI enjoyed this novel It was a change of pace from the suspense fiction I read so often The Savage Garden forced me to slow down The beautiful descriptions intriguing mystery and references to classical literature demanded that this story be savored rather than devoured Mills’ vivid descriptions brought his people and places to life allowing me to completely lose myself in his story each time I opened the bookI can’t think of a better way to spend a long hot summer afternoonReview published in the Burlington Times News 7222007