At the Bottom of the Garden

A Novel

By: Camilla Bruce

Narrated by: Suzanne Barbetta, Brittany Pressley, Cassandra Morris

An unapologetic murderess becomes the guardian of two very unusual girls. What’s the worst that could happen?

“You’ll never look at the wicked stepmothers of fairy tales quite the same way again.”—Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Reluctant Immortals and The Haunting of Velkwood

“Camilla Bruce tills the macabre for all of its Edward Gorey glory . . . At the bottom of this particular garden you will find a wicked sense of humor.”—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

Clara Woods is a killer—and perfectly fine with it, too. So what if she takes a couple of lives to make her own a little bit better? At the bottom of her garden is a flower bed, long overgrown, where her late husband rests in peace—or so she’s always thought.

Then the girls arrive.

Lily and Violet are her nieces, recently orphaned after their affluent parents died on an ill-fated anniversary trip. In accordance with their parents’ will, the sisters are to go to their closest relative—who happens to be Clara. Despite having no interest in children, Clara agrees to take them, hoping to get her hands on some of the girls’ assets—not only to bolster her dwindling fortune but also to establish what she hopes will be her legacy: a line of diamond jewelry.

There’s only one problem. Violet can see the dead man at the bottom of the garden. She can see all of Clara’s ghosts . . . and call them back into existence. Soon Clara is plagued by her victims and at war with the gifted girls in her care. Lily and Violet have become a liability—and they know far more than they should. . . .

Critic reviews

“All the elegance and all the venom, like one of E. Nesbit’s supernatural stories served with a side of arsenic.”—Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of The Final Girls Support Group and How to Sell a Haunted House

“Camilla Bruce writes dark fantasy like no one else out there. A gothic masterpiece, At the Bottom of the Garden is a propulsive novel with gorgeous prose and incredible characters you won't soon forget. You’ll never look at the wicked stepmothers of fairy tales quite the same way again. Put this book at the top of your TBR pile immediately; you won't regret it.”—Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Reluctant Immortals and The Haunting of Velkwood

“Camilla Bruce tills the macabre for all of its Edward Gorey glory, cultivating one gorgeously morbid gothic novel that’s just as gleeful as it is gashlycrumb. At the bottom of this particular garden you will find a wicked sense of humor that harkens back to the best of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, with all its vicious thorns intact.”—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

“Bruce’s unique cast of characters is both charming and terrifying. A young synesthetic musician, an even younger sensitive, a murderous aunt, and a houseful of furious ghosts—it’s all here! A delightful read.”—Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches

Overall good

Like a hallmark ghost story. Narrators were great. The story itself was pretty witty. Overall good book.

the girls are very brave

very good story was nice for Halloween I had thought the aunt would kill her nieces too

The Garden

Listened to this book in 2 days, Loved it. All the characters were engaging . Good Listen.

Interesting meditation on life and death

Slow start, interesting middle, end feels rushed and isn’t satisfying based on the build up of the supernatural forces.

Great Idea; Mediocre Execution

The beginning of this story was very promising: two wealthy orphaned girls with untapped supernatural abilities are adopted by their greedy, murderous aunt. For a while, it read/listened very much like a fairytale. However, fairytale's generally have a succinct and satisfying ending that wraps up in an appropriate amount of time. This story went on and on and on. Repetitive observations were the name of the game and it became extremely tiresome. I suggest fast forwarding through parts of this story for a more enjoyable listen.