Seventeen years ago, Kyra Masters fled the Hollow Garden and never looked back.
Haunted by fragmented memories of her friend Eleanor’s death and the events that followed, she has spent years trying to build a life far from the estate that shattered her family and left her questioning her own mind.
Following her aunt’s death, Kyra unexpectedly inherits the Hollow Garden. A sprawling Victorian graveyard of crumbling mausoleums, ruined monuments, and paths tangled with the rare Night Ivy that has grown there for generations.
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The place she returns to is not the one she remembers. Time has transformed it into something stranger, its shadows heavy with secrets long hidden behind graves and mausoleum. Family resentments linger, and an old flame is unwilling to let the past remain buried.
As old memories begin to surface, Kyra is forced to confront the tragedy she has spent years trying to forget. What really happened on the night Eleanor died? And why have those around her worked so hard to bury the truth?
The estate was never meant to be hers.
And the Hollow Garden has a will of its own.
My Review
When I began reading, nothing much seemed to be happening. Kyra has had to return to the home she fled after her friend Eleanor died seventeen years ago and Krya was locked up in a mental hospital. This was a slow burn for sure. No problem, because I knew it was going to be good. Atmospheric. Gothic.
Kyra has had to return to discover why her Aunt Magda, who had recently died, has left everything to her. Kyra’s sister Dana is hostile. As the eldest she believes the estate – the crumbling old house, the Hollow Garden, the cemetery and everything that goes with it – should be hers. Her father (Kyra’s step-father) is even worse. He wants everyone to believe that Kyra is mad.
In the gatehouse Kyra’s ex-boyfriend Priory lives with his two sisters, the youngest of which is nine-year-old Celine, an interesting child, wilful and almost feral. She was my favourite character.
And now it was starting get interesting. Krya doesn’t believe Magda died of natural causes, and others seem to be getting sick. But no-one wants to believe her. The pace began to accelerate and by the end I was breathless trying to keep up. An excellent story once it got going, with lost of twists, turns and some well-written, unlikable characters as well as likeable ones including Kyra, Priory and of course, Celine.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #TheHollowGarden #blogtour
About the Author
Natalie Grace Lewis is a British author of contemporary Gothic fiction. Her work combines haunting settings, family secrets, and supernatural elements to explore memory, loss, and the stories we inherit. Drawn to historic cemeteries, ruined churches, and forgotten corners of the past, she writes about inheritance, grief, identity, and the uneasy relationship between memory and truth.
Her debut novel, The Hollow Garden, is a contemporary Gothic novel set within a decaying Victorian graveyard, where old tragedies refuse to remain at rest.
When Natalie isn’t writing, she can usually be found wandering historic graveyards, visiting old bookshops, or planning her next research trip.
Social Media Links
Instagram: @nataliegracelewiscreative
Tiktok: @thehollowgardennovel
Website: www.nataliegracelewis.co.uk
