Carol Joyce Seid of Homeschool Made Simple suggested the book “Tom’s Midnight Garden” by Philippa Pearce. That was the first I’d heard of it. Although, since then, I have run across it (even, lo and behold, a physical copy in the dwindling stacks for the public library). It is a gem!
The story follows Tom Long through a dull summer when he is sent to stay with his childless aunt and uncle in order to quarantine after his brother comes down with the measles. The book, in setting the scene, is terribly dull. The slow development of the early chapters was made all the more painful in our house by frequent and exasperating interruption. But pushing through a handful of less than riveting pages paid off.
An aside on family read alouds: If you haven’t had a robust, full-length read aloud in a few weeks, etiquette falters. All it takes to get back to communal enjoyment is the will to push through (perhaps when toddlers are napping). The children were highly amused when, after I had announced unequivocally that not one single interruption further would be tolerated, and then, almost immediately, someone had to sprint out the room to be sick. That unfortunate incident does raise a good point: There is sometimes no better time than when plague is upon the house to revive a good reading habit. Energy is subdued, socializing is off the table. By the time some kids have regained their verve, they are invested enough in the story to remember how to listen without interrupting.
Back to Tom and his garden. This is a quiet book that builds almost imperceptibly to a stunning conclusion. In the boredom of his aunt and uncle’s apartment being overfed and understimulated, Tom begins wandering about in the night, discovering a portal to a different time. There, he befriends a mysterious girl named Hatty, with whom he shares many hours in the garden while trying to figure out the mystery of who she is and how he came to meet her.
The premise, though it may initially strike some as hokey, offers enough intrigue to keep the reader engaged. While aspects of the mystery’s explanation are easy to predict, there remain satisfying and thought-provoking plot twists.
The quiet Christian themes of the book and the unassuming characters who embody Christian faith in the book reminded me of novels by Patricia St. John. Most notably, Able, the humble and devout gardener, deepens what could be seen merely as a sci-fi fantasy book. The subtle development of the spiritual dimension brings profound meaning to the story as it concludes. Ultimately, this is a meditative story about the nature of time and eternity.
“Tom’s Midnight Garden” is a thoughtful book about “trading time for eternity” and what that will mean for us one day. It is also a mercifully slim volume that got us out of reading slump by offering a short and comparatively easy read that still offered much in the way of storyline.
