Sent to stay with his Uncle Allan and Aunt Gwen when his brother has the measles, Tom Long is bitterly disappointed and unhappy at the prospect of a dismal holiday spent at their flat, which takes up one floor of an old Victorian house. Very well written, believable characters and lots of interesting stuff to think about time, aging, how relationships change… Definitely one I’d read again, or put into my kids’ hands. I didn’t find it sad like some other readers, I rather liked the ending. Who are the other kids in the garden? where do they come from? why can’t they all see Tom? is he a ghost in their world- or are the Victorian children all ghosts themselves? It all comes together neatly in the end. His life becomes so enmeshed in the happenings of the garden that he never wants to leave it.įunny, if you think about it this book is something of a mystery. Eventually Tom puzzles out that the children in the garden are from the Victorian era, and also that time moves differently for them. Only one little girl can see him, and they strike up a friendship.

He meets other children there, catches glimpses of the gardener and a few adult members of this other household. Pretty soon Tom is sneaking out every night to explore the garden. When the grandfather clock downstairs chimes thirteen, the back door opens into a vast, manicured garden. He thinks he’s going to die of boredom until he makes a wonderful discovery. There is very little to entertain Tom- the small walled yard has only dustbins and a parked car, and he can’t go out because he might be contagious. His aunt and uncle live in a small flat, part of a larger house. Tom is sent to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle when his brother has the measles.

The little white horse