BOOK REVIEW: ​THE CHILDREN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDDEN BY JONATHAN BUTCHER

 
Jonathan Butcher appears to be the type of writer who excels in creating uncomfortable and painful stories that challenge your sensibilities. His previous novella, the uncompromising and brutal “What Good Girls Do,” was a delve into the fractured psyche of an extremely damaged child and the consequences of her exposure to normal life. Truly one of the more disturbing reads of modern times, the novella’s graphic content masked a deft and assured writing style.
 
So, when it was announced that he was releasing his debut novel from Burdizzo Books I was more than a little intrigued as to what his twisted imaginings would conjure forth. The result is “The Children at the Bottom of the Gardden,” a novel that can best be described as a multi-layered crime story seeded with elements of folk horror, Quentin Tarantino’s “The Green Man” if you will.
 
Set in the seedy and crumbling seaside town of Seadon, the plot is teased out through the perspective of seven individuals who at first appear to be a random collection of lost and broken souls. However, as the story progresses, their individual paths begin to intermingle and coalesce around the eponymous garden of the title, the home to something far more insidious and manipulative than anything they could possibly imagine.
 
From the get-go, “The Children at the Bottom of the Gardden” has a discordant and jarring feel to proceedings, not only in terms of content but also in terms of presentation and structure. Each of the key characters in the book has an individual style of font through which their story is told. Though initially unsettling you quickly realise that there is a method to this madness. In Butcher’s chaotic world of barely restrained violence, seething anger and repressed desires, the presentation lends credence to the notion that you are witnessing distinctive personalities who all bear scars of one form or another
 
Within the space of a few chapters, you quickly realise that the main characters are very damaged people who aren’t particularly redeemable but the skill with which Butcher brings his characters to life is such that you can’t help but feel engaged with them. This is surprising considering it is almost impossible to distinguish who is a victim or assailant, a user or being used as their increasingly complex web of secrets and lies leads them to inexorably to the rewards that await them in the Gardden.
 
Much like his debut novella, this is a book that deals with the damage wrought on people by their environment and shares similar themes of control, manipulation and abuse. There are shocking scenes throughout the novel but unlike its predecessor this novel isn’t a sustained and abject lesson in brutality. The brief moments of violence serve to reinforce the point that these are broken people who can’t necessarily be repaired in any traditional sense of the word.
 
I can appreciate that from this review you are probably sitting there scratching your head wondering what on earth this novel is about. Just trust me when I say that “The Children at the Bottom of the Gardden” is an absolute beast of a novel and well worthy of your time.