Nightfall in the Garden of Deep Time
by Tracy Higley
Kelsey is running the Chestnut Street Book Emporium for her “Gran,” who is actually her adoptive grandmother. She doesn’t know who her parents were at all. But Gran has had a stroke and is now living in assisted living.
Unfortunately, a developer and the city itself are breathing down
Kelsey’s neck to get Gran to sell. There’s a big luxury hotel going in next
door and the developer wants the property. The city is after her for back taxes
as well. She either has to commit to paying a chunk of the back taxes and doing
installment payments or they’ll seize the property and auction it off. Can she commit
to those payments when Gran is in care and the facility also needs to be paid?
Kelsey has also put her own dreams on the back burner. She
wanted to write for a living but a little bit of discouragement from two
sources over the years sent her reeling pretty quickly. She stuffed the
manuscript in a drawer and left it there.
And Kelsey’s boyfriend? Don’t get me started. Not exactly
supportive, but then they’ve only been dating for a month.
“Despite everything going on, I savor this moment in my happy
place, grateful for this bookshop that is everything I love stacked and bundled
and shelved into one cavernous and glorious space with a hundred mysterious
corners.”
The author creates for us an old-time bookstore, and the city
neighborhood replete with a variety of shop owners, old and young, of varying backgrounds.
It feels like a bit of Sesame Street that lives in so many of our hearts.
“Listen, Kelsey, you let me know if you need me to chain
myself to the bookshop or anything, to stop the bulldozers. You know I will.”
Was that her neighbor William or …?
The story is picturesque and idyllic in places, but in contrast
to the heartbreak and pain of life.
When Kelsey visits Gran to talk about all this, Gran mutters
cryptic statements about the garden being the key. But there’s no garden. Can
things get worse? Of course they can!
Then, one night, Kelsey finds the garden in the walled off lot
next to the store, and a host of people inside, both demanding and supportive.
Is this just a dream? If so, it’s a very literary one. Can they help her figure
out how to save the bookshop?
I loved so much of the story, it really is for readers and
writers, in particular. She has so much to say about imposter syndrome without
naming it.
I feel a certain kinship with Kelsey – pushing my own writing
aside so often for the more immediate necessities of family life and work at
the library. “Imagination doesn’t pay the bills,” Kelsey thinks to herself in
the first chapter. Thankfully, my work at the library includes the writer’s
group, which keeps bringing me back to my own writing.
The biggest problem I had was that the author “read” it while
I’m used to voice actors “performing” a story. I still enjoyed it, but it took
a while for me to get into the story, and I think I would have enjoyed reading
it more if I’d read it in a hard copy instead of listening to it.
First person and present tense is an interesting choice,
bringing a sense of immediacy to a rather long book. It’s a lovely homage to
the arts. There’s a bit of a side quest that didn’t really connect to me. I
felt like it could be tightened up a bit and still keep the lush prose and deep
dive into what it means to be an artist and persevere. It’s a strong 4 stars
for me. I’m definitely glad I spent the time reading it and would recommend it
to others.
