For fourteen-year-old Maggie Gartner, nothing is more magical than family dinner. She’s not unique in that—anyone lucky enough to purchase a meal ticket at the Gartner’s estate in the New Jersey Pine
Barrens claims the food changed their life. That’s a given when you harvest crops that purposefully alter emotions. Add in the sparkling company of an eccentric family who has hidden a centuries-old agricultural secret and you’re guaranteed a rollicking night.
Except.. Maggie’s different. She’s not great at conversation. Or… human interactions. That’s all going to change when Maggie cooks her first dinner and proves she’s just as Gartner as everyone else. But in the shadow of her growth, a mysterious stranger moves to Humble Hollow, buying up land and overtaking
Humble Hollow’s biggest holiday—Factory Day. The stranger’s nefarious dealings put the Gartners at risk of losing much more than their business. With the help of new kid, Graham, as well as trusty townsfolk and family folklore, Maggie must dig deep to see what others can’t, especially those truths that feel just beyond her reach.
Devilishly absurd and heartachingly true, The Garden Just Beyond untangles themes of heritage,
identity, and legacy in a tale that twists and turns until the enchanted end.
