Winston came to England to become a financier but he is currently working in a shop whereas his boyfriend is progressing up the career ladder. Bernice is a divorced single parent, determined to smother her child with love. They live in two adjoining houses with a shared garden and keep up a frosty relationship.
However when Winston receives a strange set of pictures through his door one day, showing the garden in a previous guise, he decides to tackle the task of restoring the garden to it's former glory.
This is a really quite lovely book about relationships. Set across the 1970s and the 2010s it juxtaposes the lives of people associated with a corner of North London and linked by a love of a shared green space. There's nothing horrible here, it's very predictable but it is a great, gentle read. ( )