The China garden

Format:

Book

Title:

The China garden

Author:

Berry, Liz, 1935-

ISBN:

9780380732289

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

285 pages : map ; 18 cm

General Note:

"Published by arrangement with Farrar, Straus and Giroux ... First Avon Tempest Printing: October 1999"--Title page verso

Summary:

After college Clare moves with her mother from London to a rural home where her psychic ability helps unravel the past and where she searches for something called the Benison. When Clare moves with her mother from London to Ravensmere, an historic English estate, she can't shake the feeling that the residents already know her, especially Mark, a maddeningly attractive biker. Clare also feels compelled to take midnight walks in Ravensmere's abandoned China Garden. Then her mother reveals that their own past is tragically linked to the estate. But when Clare discovers that Ravensmere is in grave danger, will she risk her future -- and Mark's -- to save it?

Reading Level:

Young Adult.

Program Information:

Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning MG 4.6 12.

Subject(s):

Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.

Extrasensory perception -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Dallas Public Library	YA FICTION - BERRY	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

When Clare moves with her mother from London to Ravensmere, an historic English estate, she can't shake the feeling that the residents already know her, especially Mark, a maddeningly attractive biker. Clare also feels compelled to take midnight walks in Ravensmere's abandoned China Garden. Then her mother reveals that their own past is tragically linked to the estate. But when Clare discovers that Ravensmere is in grave danger, will she risk her future-and Mark's-to save it?

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 UpThis unusual book is a fantasy, a romance, a mystery, a tale of family feuds, and a coming-of-age story all rolled into one. Clare Meredith, 17 and waiting to hear the results of her school exams, goes with her widowed mother to Ravensmere, an ancient English estate, where she's oddly attracted to a handsome biker. Clare makes friends and enemies; sees visions; learns of past Ravensmere women and of her previously unknown connection to the area; and rethinks her plans for the future. All of this is intertwined with legends of a magical Benison and its two Guardians. Ordinary teens will find The China Garden overwhelming, if not incomprehensible. It is very British, full of unfamiliar words and phrases. It is laden with historical, mythological, architectural, and religious references that would baffle many adults. There are also two annoying narrative breaks. However, Berry's novel is a rich, involving read for those select few who are highly literate and enjoy long, detailed romantic fantasies.Ann W. Moore, Guilderland Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Like a jewel box with hidden drawers and compartments, this finely crafted, multilayered novel holds many secrets. Early on, events unfold at a leisurely pace at Ravensmere, an old English country estate where 17-year-old Clare intends to unwind for a few weeks before entering university. But questions and curiosities begin to accumulate, drawing the reader inexorably into a whirling mix of disparate, even outlandish elements-this is at once a ghost story, a romance and a coming-of-age drama, with psychic phenomena as well as historical and even ecological themes. In Berry's (Easy Connections) skilled hands, however, these motifs fall satisfyingly into place, piece by piece. The villagers seem to have anticipated Clare's arrival, and there is repeated, cryptic mention of the "Guardians" of the "Benison," an ancient treasure whose nature-the novel's deepest, most compelling secret-is not revealed until the final chapters. Only then does Clare learn the startling truth about her connection to Ravensmere and her strange, supernatural role in preserving its future. Berry builds a setting and atmosphere richly laden with mystery and suspense, in which the ordinary often masks unexpected interconnections and the extraordinary is natural to the story's wildly imagined terrain. Ages 14-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Horn Book Review

Clare moves from London to an estate in southern England and discovers that she is part of a clan of women with special powers. Clare accepts her 'second sight' and the requirement that she learn to protect the ancient family 'Benison', a mysterious stone. Using traditional lore about the stone circles at Stonehenge, Avebury, and elsewhere in England, Berry writes a contemporary, fast-paced story full of mystery, mysticism, and romance. From HORN BOOK 1996, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 8^-12. Clare, who is leaving soon for the university, feels a powerful urge to accompany her mother, Frances, to Ravensmere, the estate where Frances has taken a job nursing an elderly man. Clare is shocked when she learns that her mother grew up nearby, but she's even more surprised when the villagers know her own name and greet her with great joy. An unscrupulous estate manager, a handsome young man on a motorcycle, and the old earl himself are all part of the secret, and Clare gradually realizes that so is she. What could have been a creaky supernatural story becomes, in Berry's hands, a lushly romantic tale that unfolds in layers and is firmly grounded in mythology and New Age mysticism. Clare matures and becomes powerful by learning her true self in this coming-of-age novel, which will also please teens looking for romance. --Susan Dove Lempke