The Sleep Garden
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The Sleep Garden explores and pushes the boundaries between fact and imagination, real and surreal, and life and the afterlife.
In an underground apartment building called “the Burrow”--essentially purgatory—“twilight souls” inhabit the space between life and death. Interwoven with their stories are those of inhabitants of the living world: a retired sea captain, a psychotic former child actor (possibly the sea captain’s illegitimate son?), and the technicians who monitor the Burrow, making sure its occupants have a constant supply of oxygen and food. Through all of their stories, and the ways in which their lives, past and present, intertwine, Krusoe creates a poignant story about what constitutes a life, what remains when we die, and what we possibly carry with us into the next world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The subterranean setting of Krusoe's (Parsifal) latest is "the Burrow," a "low mound that rises out of earth." Here, residents exist somewhere between reality and daydreams, inner thoughts and action. But are their daydreams and obsessions any better or worse than those living a "real" existence? Judging from the stories from outside the Burrow, not really. The novel captures a world of paradoxes that are dark and optimistic, sad but strangely humorous. Jeffrey writes letters advocating for the use of crossbows; Heather is fascinated with the oddities of the men she dates; Madeline fantasizes about becoming a celebrity chef; Raymond delves into a world of decoy ducks; and Viktor desires money, power, and Madeline. Krusoe's spare language creates a sinister peacefulness that is both eerie and enticing. The vivid description and narrative movement from one character to the next keeps the plot intriguing, conveying a dreamlike atmosphere of wandering in and wondering at life.
