'A magnificent novel... I read it breathlessly.' Ivan Klima

It's 1961 and something has gone badly wrong at 17 Esper Road. Charles is in search of a better world but his wife Emma hankers after parties in Spain and the latest fashions. All they have in common is their disappointing tomboy daughter, Linka, who sits at the foot of the garden, making weapons from dead branches and longing for beautiful and violent escape...Britain is poised for the upheavals of the 1960s. The future has a bright surface but darker forces pulse below. When Linka and her mother both fall in love with a Polish refugee, their fragile family life is shattered. Linka knows she must fight to protect her own dreams. Girl in a Garden is a story of secret wars as only a child can detect them.