The Memory Garden (Paperback or Softback)

Winner of the 2015 LOCUS AWARD for Best First Novel

"…A SUPERB FANTASY NOVEL." ― The Chicago Tribune

In a beautifully written tale woven together with magic and mystery, flowers and food, Bay Singer finally discovers the secrets her mother has been hiding.

Bay Singer has bigger secrets than most.

Not that she knows about them. Her mother, Nan, is sure that the burden of those secrets would be too much, and that's why she never told anyone the truth, not even Bay.

There's a lot that Nan's kept quiet over the years, especially those times with Mavis and Ruthie?times that were dark and full of guilt.

But some secrets have a power all their own, and Nan realizes she needs Mavis and Ruthie now more than ever. When the three meet again in Nan's garden, their reunion has spellbinding effects that none of them could have imagined, least of all Bay...

An enchanting fantasy, fans of Alice Hoffman, Sarah Addison Allen, will be captivated by Mary Rickert, the World Fantasy and Crawford Award―winning author.

What reviewers are saying about The Memory Garden:

"atmospheric, eerie, and utterly beautiful…" ― Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Someone Else's Love Story

"A totally CHARMING, totally ENGAGING story told by Rickert, a magus of the first order. MAGIC IN EVERY LINE." ― Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Jane Austen Book Club

"The Memory Garden is one of the most intense fantasy books I've read in years…reminds me a bit of [Terry] Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books, but also of some of my favorite literary novels about misfits who invent themselves as they go along. I've seldom read a book that's as gentle, and yet as powerful, as The Memory Garden." ― io9

"… a blend of poetical language and dark suspense... 'The Memory Garden' is a tale of tragedy, hope and kinship." ― The Washington Post

"[A] BEWITCHING MARVEL of a book." ― BookPage

"… absolutely STUNNING." ― Christopher Barzak, author of One for Sorrow

Mary Rickert has a Masters of Fine Arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has published numerous short stories. This is her first novel. She lives with her husband in Wisconsin. Visit her at www.maryrickert.net.