The Girls in the Garden: A Novel

Content Warning: The source text includes the assault of a minor, the death of a minor, suicide, substance overdose, and depictions of a schizophrenic episode.

“Pip stands behind her mother in the tiny bathroom.”

This is the first line of the novel. It highlights how Pip is one of the main protagonists, as well as the small size of their new apartment. Jewell uses Pip’s perspective more than Clare’s throughout the novel, and downsizing to a smaller location develops the theme of the Relocation as Escape or Exile.

“I was just thinking what a cute little flat it was and suddenly it’s like Narnia, there’s all these tall trees and pathways and a lawn.”

Jewell includes letters from Pip to Chris in Chapters 1 through 13. This quote is from Pip’s first letter and alludes to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book in the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. This is an age-appropriate allusion for an 11-year-old and develops her perspective while highlighting the whimsical allure of the park.

“She said that Mum shouldn’t let us out in the park on our own, that there might be murderers and pedophiles hiding in the bushes!”

In this passage, Pip writes to Chris describing what her Granny (Clare’s mom) said about Virginia Park. This establishes the red herring of Grace’s attacker being someone older than her early in the novel, and it develops the theme of The Dual Nature of Green Spaces.