The Garden God: A Tale of Two Boys

Forrest Reid

Lu par Chuck Williamson

(5 stars; 3 reviews)

The Garden God: A Tale of Two Boys is Forrest Reid’s tender, bracingly tragic reflection on adolescence, pantheism, Platonism, and homoerotic desire. A classic of “Uranian” literature, it tells the story of Graham Iddesleigh, a fifteen year old boy whose early childhood is spent in cloistered seclusion. He idles his time roaming his family’s idyllic country estate, fantasizing about an imagined friendship with an ancient Greek god. But all this changes when his father sends him off to boarding school. Once there, Graham soon meets the ethereal Harold Brocklehurst, a fellow schoolboy who is an exact double of Graham’s imaginary friend. Thus begins an unforgettable love and friendship that shapes and reinvigorates both boys—but can their bond withstand the sudden and inexplicable strike of tragedy? - Summary by ChuckW (2 hr 47 min)