Review:
The layered tales in The Red Garden start as magical stories and culminate in a history of a town full of depth and feeling. It’s wonderful to see how stories from the beginning of the collection end up mentioned less and less realistically, less and less clearly, until they are part of the collective vocabulary of the town. To the modern resident they are ever-present and yet indefinable in their origins. As a reader you’ll begin to remember your own hometown folk stories. The rumors of a whirlpool in the lake, that road you didn’t drive on after midnight, even holding your breath as you biked past a certain house. Reading how Hoffman’s fictional town earned it’s legends you’ll wonder about the origins of your own.
Hoffman’s collection of stories present an extremely realistic view of a town. That being said, Hoffman’s tales do include her ever-present magical realism. A garden that turns all plants red. No matter what color a plant started as, they become blood-red for reasons exposed in the in the titular story. In another we meet a woman who may or may not have originated as a creature of the sea. Yet, while Hoffman’s blatant use of magic is enchanting, for the most part the magic in the stories is sutble…a woman and a bear who have a mother/child-like connection…a Johhny Appleseed who subsists on almost nothing…a woman who always brings you exactly what you need when you need it (like showing up on your doorstep with a basket of tomatoes when the craving hits). It’s truly the every-day magic that makes most of the stories special rather than common place. It’s that little bit of sparkle that makes a well told tale last through the generations.
Beyond the quiet enjoyment of watching a town history grow it’s the love that will keep you reading. Many of the tales follow stories of love lost and love taken. “Owl and Mouse” was one of my favorites, telling of a woman who walked her way into town and found the love of her life. The main character is a woman with her head in the clouds and her love is a blind man looking for the last adventure of his life. They have their day, and the memory of the dog forever. In “The Truth about my Mother” a child recounts the history of her mother as well as the tale of her entrance into the town and the beginnings of her second marriage. The daughter’s view is unique as she is at once a part of the story and yet, relegated to the edges of the town. Finally, my last favorite was “The Monster of Blackwell”. A love story in the theme of Beauty and the Beast with a more realistic ending. This one broke my heart in the best way possible.
This collection is a quiet work meant to be read with a cup of coffee and a comfy chair. Stories can be read singularly, but are best read continuously to build up the feeling of history…as well as remember each story correctly. At times they interlace and because many of the characters are named the same/from the same families, keeping everyone straight does present a problem. As does being aware of the passage of time. Hoffman skips around the years in a generally chronological manner, but heeds no structure to how long the gaps between stories are. Warning to the wise: take a note of the dates that start each story, it’ll help to orient you in time and with the family generations.
Rating: 6/10
Sara O
thelibrarianreads 