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The Savage Garden: A Thriller

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The Savage Garden: A Thriller

Paperback(Reprint)

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Paperback(Reprint)
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Overview

Young Cambridge scholar Adam Banting is in Tuscany, assigned to write a scholarly monograph about the famous Docci garden—a mysterious world of statues, grottoes, meandering rills, and classical inscriptions. As his research deepens, Adam comes to suspect that buried in the garden’s strange iconography is the key to uncovering a long-ago murder. But the ancient house holds its own secrets as well. And as Adam delves into his subject, he begins to suspect that he is being used to discover the true meaning of the villa’s murderous past.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425221297
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/06/2008
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	8.24(w) x 10.88(h) x 0.89(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mark Mills is a screenwriter; among his credits is the script for "The Reckoning", adapted from Barry Unsworth's novel Morality Play. Mills lives with his family.

Reading Group Guide

ABOUT MARK MILLS

Mark Mills is a screenwriter; among his credits is the script for The Reckoning, adapted from Barry Unsworth's novel Morality Play. Mills lives with his family and is at work on his second novel.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Did you find the map at the beginning of the novel helpful? If so, would you have preferred a map of Italy as well? Or, perhaps, sketches of the statues and the mythological scenarios?

Do you think Harry’s character exists only for comic relief or does he offer some insight and depth to the storyline of the novel?

Comments made by Professor Leonard such as “Francesca Signora Docci…she’s old now, and frail by all accounts. But don’t underestimate her” as early as on page 16 serve as foreshadowing. What other instances of foreshadowing appear in the book? Are they all equally effective?

The author touches upon the theme of closure numerous times throughout the novel—from a 300-year old murder to the death of Emilio to Adam’s father’s infidelity. How important is closure within the frame of the book’s world?

Adam and Antonella first take a tour of the garden in Chapter 8. On page 71 Mills makes the following statement as the two make their way into the temple: “The building was dedicated to Echo, the unfortunate nymph who fell hard for Narcissus. He, too preoccupied with his own beauty, spurned her attentions, whereupon Echo, heartbroken, faded away until only her voice remained.” This scenario seems to metaphorically describe Adam and Antonella’s relationship at the end of the novel: Adam too preoccupied with solving the mystery and she, heartbroken and speechless with only a letter in hand. In what ways does the author utilize this paralleling with his other characters and mythological creatures?

Did you find the novel’s ending to be anti-climactic? Was Maurizio’s guilt evident too early on in the novel?

Although The Savage Garden is a mystery novel, romance plays a large role throughout the story. What positive or negative effects does this have on your experience and opinion of the novel?

Mills makes numerous references to literary classics such a Dante’s The Divine Comedy and Machiavelli’s Il Principe. Although he explains their significance to the plot, do you feel that having read those works in full could lead to a different, more in-depth perspective on The Savage Garden?

Toward the end of Francesca’s letter to Adam she says, “I meant what I said to you just before we sat down to dinner at the party. I asked you then to remember my words. Do you? I hope so, because they are as true as any I have ever spoken.” What exactly were Francesca’s words?

History, specifically the history of World War II and other major battles, have a strong prensence throughout the novel. Discuss how including these battles affect the novel. Could the author have set The Savage Garden following another battle without losing the effect?

Do you feel that there is a deeper meaning behind the reveal of Emilio being Professor Leonard’s son? Or do you think perhaps the author has included this as simply another issue for the characters to overcome?

From the B&N Reads Blog

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Editorial Reviews

A Tuscan Renaissance villa serves as the setting of the most unusual double murder mystery you will ever read. In the summer of 1958, Cambridge art history major Adam Strickland travels to Italy to research a monograph on an elaborate 16th-century garden. Drawn into the garden's intricate designs, grottoes, iconography, and inscriptions, Strickland soon begins to wonder if its elaborate patterns might hold the key to the 1548 death of the estate owner's wife. As he digs deeper, he also detects haunting inconsistencies in accounts of a far more recent murder, which occurred in the villa during the waning days of World War II. A captivating mystery with a sweet touch of Tuscan romance.

Struggling to keep his head in this seductively drawn company of educated and refined landowners, Adam applies his academic approach to the tantalizing mystery and, at no small cost to his own ego, eventually solves it. But in the process this naïve young man also learns more than any outsider needs to know about the desperate measures families will adopt to survive the wounds of war.
— The New York Times

Marilyn Stasio

… The Savage Garden is an impressive performance by a young British screenwriter whose first novel, Amagansett, was much admired three years ago.
— The Washington Post

Patrick Anderson

A sumptuous tale of multiple mysteries, family intrigues and hearty Continental flavor that demonstrates Mills has earned a prime place at the crime fiction table.

Baltimore Sun

A romantic and gracefully executed literary puzzle.

New York Times Book Review

In his first suspense novel, Amagansett, Mark Mills displayed a literary voice that was thoroughly embracing. The same is true in The Savage Garden.

New York Daily News

Alluring, mysterious.

New York Times

Two murders separated by centuries make up the heart of this excellent literary mystery. Set in the beautiful Tuscan countryside during the summer of 1958, Mills's novel tells the story of Adam Strickland, an art history major researching the 16th-century garden on the grounds of the Villa Docci. As Strickland studies the intricate sculptures and inscriptions in the garden, he deciphers a series of clues that hint at a murder committed more than 400 years ago. He also discovers evidence of another murder, this one only 14 years in the past. Unraveling the former mystery will find him a place in academic history, but solving the latter will place his life in danger. Stuart brings just the right touch to his reading of this intelligently written story. With an excellent use of his vocal talents, he moves easily from one character to another, never overplaying the accents or gender. His descriptive narration uses Mills's prose to sweep the listener into a classic world of intrigue and suspense. Fans of P.D. James and the like will enjoy. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 5). (May)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

This subtle and engaging mystery begins when Adam Strickland, an English college student, is dispatched to Italy in 1958 to study a unique garden. As Adam undertakes his research, he perceives that the garden's ornamentation is not a literary riddle but a 400-year-old confession to murder. While he is determining the garden's significance, he becomes aware of a more recent murder and begins investigating. Sophisticated armchair sleuths will delight in this book's characterization and ambiance. Ian Stuart's narration is unobtrusive and gentle. He handles the Italian words and phrases with casual confidence. Cultured listeners will be both entertained and satisfied with Mills's well-received second title, after Amagansett. Recommended.
—Ray Vignovich

Library Journal

In the second novel from Mills (Amagansett, 2004), a student unearths deadly secrets at a stately Tuscan villa. Cambridge scholar Adam Banting gets an unexpected offer from his mentor, Prof. Crispin Leonard: to explore the exotic garden of Leonard's old friend Signora Docci, and write an academic study of her singular garden. Having few other prospects and languishing in his relationship with aspiring writer Gloria, Adam accepts. Over ten years after WWII ended, the collective Italian psyche has conflicting emotions about its role in the war. Indeed, Signora Docci dotes on the memory of her son Emilio, whose death at the hands of German soldiers is shrouded in mystery. Adam gets contradictory snippets from a friendly local tradesman named Fausto and from the Signora's flirtatious granddaughter, Antonella, among others, before his charming, no-account brother Harry arrives unexpectedly to complicate his life. The garden Adam's come to study is lush and elaborate, its statuary eerily sensual and life-like. His appreciation warms the glamorous Signora Docci, and she unexpectedly takes him to bed, making him promise to keep their tryst a secret. He's excited to discover that the nine tiers of the garden correspond to the Dante's nine circles of Hell. As he uncovers more secrets about Emilio's suspicious death, Adam realizes that subtle features of the garden are offering clues. A murder puzzle wrapped around a literary deconstruction grounded in a perceptive study of seduction and survival. Sublime. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph Walsh/William Morris Agency

Kirkus Reviews