The Savage Garden
Adam Strickland, 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 the famous Docci garden in Tuscany. Dedicated to the memory of a fifteenth-century nobleman’s young wife, the garden is a mysterious world of statues, grottoes, meandering rills, and classical inscriptions. But Adam comes to suspect that something sinister lies buried in the garden’s strange iconography. What if Lord Docci’s wife was murdered, and her memorial garden is filled with pointers to both the method and the motive of the crime?

As the odd history unfolds, Adam finds himself drawn into a parallel intrigue. Through his evolving relationship with the lady of the house—the ailing, seventy-something Signora Docci—he hears stories of yet another violent death in the family, this one much more 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.

As Adam delves into his subject, he begins to suspect that his seemingly innocent history project might be a setup. Is he really just the naive student, stumbling upon clues, or is he being used to discover the true meaning of the villa’s murderous past?

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The Savage Garden
Adam Strickland, 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 the famous Docci garden in Tuscany. Dedicated to the memory of a fifteenth-century nobleman’s young wife, the garden is a mysterious world of statues, grottoes, meandering rills, and classical inscriptions. But Adam comes to suspect that something sinister lies buried in the garden’s strange iconography. What if Lord Docci’s wife was murdered, and her memorial garden is filled with pointers to both the method and the motive of the crime?

As the odd history unfolds, Adam finds himself drawn into a parallel intrigue. Through his evolving relationship with the lady of the house—the ailing, seventy-something Signora Docci—he hears stories of yet another violent death in the family, this one much more 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.

As Adam delves into his subject, he begins to suspect that his seemingly innocent history project might be a setup. Is he really just the naive student, stumbling upon clues, or is he being used to discover the true meaning of the villa’s murderous past?

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The Savage Garden

The Savage Garden

The Savage Garden

The Savage Garden

Overview

Adam Strickland, 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 the famous Docci garden in Tuscany. Dedicated to the memory of a fifteenth-century nobleman’s young wife, the garden is a mysterious world of statues, grottoes, meandering rills, and classical inscriptions. But Adam comes to suspect that something sinister lies buried in the garden’s strange iconography. What if Lord Docci’s wife was murdered, and her memorial garden is filled with pointers to both the method and the motive of the crime?

As the odd history unfolds, Adam finds himself drawn into a parallel intrigue. Through his evolving relationship with the lady of the house—the ailing, seventy-something Signora Docci—he hears stories of yet another violent death in the family, this one much more 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.

As Adam delves into his subject, he begins to suspect that his seemingly innocent history project might be a setup. Is he really just the naive student, stumbling upon clues, or is he being used to discover the true meaning of the villa’s murderous past?

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781423337959
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication date: 05/10/2007
Edition description: Unabridged
Product dimensions: 5.37(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Mark Mills is a screenwriter; among his credits is the recent movie, The Reckoning, adapted from Barry Unsworth's Morality Play. His first novel, Amagansett, was published in a dozen countries; received the British Crime Writers' Association John Creasy Memorial Dagger Award; and appeared on several US bestseller lists. A graduate of Cambridge, he lives in London.

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?

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