Significance of The garden

Lily’s continued fascination with the Trentham garden is a consistent and reoccurring factor throughout the novel. Lily’s relationship with the garden is mystical, as it functions as an alternate universe for Lily to escape into, free from the outside world. Lily’s escapist relationship with the garden persists well into her teenage years, and even as an adult, as she builds her own garden in her home. For Lily, gardens are fertile places where beings can reinvent themselves, where humans can connect with mysticisms and earthly occurrences with heightened intimacy.