The Black Garden

"John McFarland has written a grand opera of a tale." ~ Elizabeth Donald, author of The Cold Ones, Nocturne, and Setting Suns

"Richly imagined, this is an intricate, intelligent and absorbing tale of faith and sacrifice." ~ John Linwood Grant, author of Where All is Night, and Starless

The small town of St. Odile is about to host a new visitor.

Perdita Badon-Reed has come to this place to hone her skills as a sculptress, but also to escape a life behind her, including a fiancé, that she isn't sure she wants. For a woman in 1882, this is a huge risk, but her strong will determines she must take it. She believes staying at the home of her uncle, Father Condell, and taking on a commissioned sculpture will help clear her emotions and find meaning to her need for escape.

But all is not as it seems in this quiet community. Its secrets are dark and deep, and Perdita finds herself entangling in them. A young woman sentenced to death attaches herself to Perdita, an orphaned girl at the convent sees visions and illustrates them with a talent beyond her years, and a persistent strangeness hovers as to why Perdita's fiancé's sister lost her life in connection to this town. But the most mysterious of all is Orien Bastide, an extremely wealthy man who seems to be a benefactor to St. Odile but is an enigma, nearly a legend, to the residents.

Perdita's embroilment becomes an urgency to help those around her, to find answers to perplexing questions that continue to mystify. Her persistence and strength preserve, but will they be enough to save her from an unimaginable horror waiting in the shadows?

John S. McFarland successfully weaves together history and fiction to create this gothic mystery novel, a tale with a chilling narrative sure to pique your interest while slipping beneath your skin. St. Odile will stay with you long after you've left the confines of the pages... come and learn why.

"...McFarland sets the mood early and keeps you immersed in it until the end." ~ Debbie Monterrey, KMOX Radio