Tom's Midnight Garden

Tom’s Midnight Garden bridges two different periods in British history, allowing the author to explore how British life, values, and society changed. Tom Long’s “present” is the post-World War II world of the 1950s. Tom inhabits a setting where the effects of the war are still being felt. When he goes to stay with his aunt and uncle, the Kitsons’ apartment is in a converted Victorian manor house, reflecting the housing shortages in post-war Britain. During and after World War II, many large houses were divided into smaller apartments to accommodate the growing urban population and displaced families. The old manor house is described as “crowded round with newer, smaller houses that beat up to its very confines” (4), illustrating the emergence of new housing developments. The loss of the house’s garden, leaving only a meager yard, denotes the urban lifestyle that was becoming more common in mid-20th-century Britain.

Tom’s parents’ decision to send him away when Peter has measles is a further reflection of a population living in increasingly closed quarters. Before the measles vaccine was discovered in 1968, epidemics of the highly contagious disease were common. Mrs. Long’s observation that “[t]here’s so little room in the house […] when there’s illness” emphasizes how modern living conditions accelerated the spread of disease (2).