Review by Jagiine -- Elizabeth's Garden

[Jagiine]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Elizabeth's Garden" by Phillip Leighton-Daly.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Philip Leighton-Daly’s Elizabeth’s Garden starts as an ordinary narrative, with an old man leading a woman on a hike through harsh terrain. As the man grows emotional, it becomes clear that he took the woman there to tell her a very personal story: the fellow had lost someone important to him when he lived in the area as a missionary’s kid. Hence, the majority of the tale unfolds in the man’s voice as he recounts what it was like to live amidst the strife in the brush. Readers quickly learn that—between the compassion and drama, the suspense and action, suspicious characters and a twist ending—life on the river was never boring.

Though it may often be categorized as a children’s book, Elizabeth’s Garden wields a very strong vocabulary. For example, one sentence reads, “My dad deplored the lawlessness endemic along the river.” I imagine this must mean the old man is some sort of articulate scholar, a theory supported by his dialogue (when he's not speaking his own words, he's quoting others’). Really, this makes the dialogue rather stiff. It's as though each character has a quill and inkwell in their mouth rather than a tongue. Similarly, a lot of the descriptions, even outside of discourse, seem contrived, as though the writer tried too hard to be poetic and descriptive rather than just telling the story.

Despite finding the writing a bit dry, I thought the story had several interesting points. It never felt like the author was simply throwing in action for the sake of excitement or a question for the sake of confusion, but Leighton-Daly managed to evoke a variety of my emotions. Regrettably, I was often distracted from these emotions for one reason or another. Several times, I became confused about the timeline and needed to retrace my steps in order to determine whether the man was describing a singular event or something which had been ongoing. Other times, I was distracted by errors with punctuation, pronouns, syntax, and so forth. In general, Leighton-Daly could have benefited from utilizing the services of a professional editor before publishing this book.

In the end, I found more than ten editing errors, so I cannot give the book a perfect score. Additionally, I found it a bit convoluted due to the flowery descriptions and lack of time-oriented adverbs. However, the overall plot was interesting, and I can imagine others enjoying the story more than myself. Thus, I rate Elizabeth’s Garden 2 out of 4 stars.

I believe that good readers (or listeners) who appreciate historical fiction and short stories could enjoy a lunch break with this yarn. I think it is only considered a children’s book because of its length and its main characters’ ages; in actuality, the vocabulary and syntax lead me away from recommending the tale for young kids. Nonetheless, a child with a strong vocabulary or a mastery of lexical resources and no concern for pictures, as there are none, may like the book. Parents should be warned that substance abuse, violence, a potential reference to sexual violence, and murder are in the narrative.

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Elizabeth's Garden
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[TheMazeRunner]

Historical fictions are not my cup of tea, so I'll skip this one. Great review!

[Jagiine]

Historical fictions are not my cup of tea, so I'll skip this one. Great review!

I definitely get that. This one toes the line of historical fiction, but it still probably wouldn't appeal to you. Thank you for commenting!

[Dzejn_Crvena]

I'm a huge fan of children's books, so I'll see if this book will not distract me with its editing errors.
I'm intrigued with the story.
Thank you for your review.

[63tty]

I like your summary of the book. It makes me want to read the book. I just put it on my bookshelves. Thanks for the wonderful review.

[Jagiine]

I'm a huge fan of children's books, so I'll see if this book will not distract me with its editing errors.
I'm intrigued with the story.
Thank you for your review.

I wouldn't really call this a children's book, but it does have an interesting story. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for stopping by

[Jagiine]

I like your summary of the book. It makes me want to read the book. I just put it on my bookshelves. Thanks for the wonderful review.

That's great! I hope you find a chance to read it and find it enjoyable.

Also, I like your signature.

Thanks for coming by!

[MsTri]

While I don't think this is my kind of story, I do thank you for the thorough review; I especially like your line about a quill and inkwell [metaphorically] being in the character's mouth!

[Jagiine]

While I don't think this is my kind of story, I do thank you for the thorough review; I especially like your line about a quill and inkwell [metaphorically] being in the character's mouth!

Thank you very much; I was also proud of that line! Thanks for commenting

[markodim721]

I don't think this is a book for me, but it's good that you pointed out the most important things in it. Thanks for the honest and unbiased review.

[Mwatu]

The quill and inkwell in the author's mouth reference, I feel, drives home what the language in the book is like. Hopefully, the book is revised. Thank you for this review!

[Rayah Raouf]

I've read another book by this author and I thought it was pretty okay. It's a shame about the errors in this book but hopefully, that can be fixed. Thank you for the review

[Ellylion]

The book sounds confusing with all the mentioned above issues, but your review is outstanding as always Thank you!

[AvidBibliophile]

A life spent in the brush along the banks of a river would certainly set the stage for some potentially memorable moments of unforgettable scenarios, but I greatly appreciate the contributing attributes of concern you’ve pointed out here. Thank you for providing an honest and informative review!

[Jagiine]

I don't think this is a book for me, but it's good that you pointed out the most important things in it. Thanks for the honest and unbiased review.

It's definitely for very particular tastes. I appreciate you stopping by!