54 pages 1 hour read

Lisa Jewell

The Girls in the Garden: A Novel

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

Content Warning: The source text includes the assault of a minor, the death of a minor, suicide, substance overdose, and depictions of a schizophrenic episode.

“Pip stands behind her mother in the tiny bathroom.”


(Prologue, Page 1)

This is the first line of the novel. It highlights how Pip is one of the main protagonists, as well as the small size of their new apartment. Jewell uses Pip’s perspective more than Clare’s throughout the novel, and downsizing to a smaller location develops the theme of the Relocation as Escape or Exile.

Quotation Mark Icon

“I was just thinking what a cute little flat it was and suddenly it’s like Narnia, there’s all these tall trees and pathways and a lawn.”


(Part 1, Chapter 1, Page 13)

Jewell includes letters from Pip to Chris in Chapters 1 through 13. This quote is from Pip’s first letter and alludes to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book in the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. This is an age-appropriate allusion for an 11-year-old and develops her perspective while highlighting the whimsical allure of the park.

Quotation Mark Icon

“She said that Mum shouldn’t let us out in the park on our own, that there might be murderers and pedophiles hiding in the bushes!”


(Part 1, Chapter 2, Page 21)

In this passage, Pip writes to Chris describing what her Granny (Clare’s mom) said about Virginia Park. This establishes the red herring of Grace’s attacker being someone older than her early in the novel, and it develops the theme of The Dual Nature of Green Spaces.

Related Titles

By Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

Invisible Girl

Lisa Jewell

Invisible Girl: A Novel

Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

None of This Is True

Lisa Jewell

None of This Is True: A Novel

Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

The Family Remains

Lisa Jewell

The Family Remains

Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

The Family Upstairs

Lisa Jewell

The Family Upstairs

Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

The House We Grew Up In

Lisa Jewell

The House We Grew Up In

Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

The Night She Disappeared

Lisa Jewell

The Night She Disappeared

Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

Then She Was Gone

Lisa Jewell

Then She Was Gone

Lisa Jewell

Study Guide

logo

Watching You

Lisa Jewell

Watching You: A Novel

Lisa Jewell