Epic in conception and meticulously plotted, Alex Marwood’s The Poison Garden might be described as a dystopian eco-thriller; as the title suggests and the nightmarish opening scene demonstrates, the serpent is very much abroad in this paradise. But there is something that speaks very much to the present about Marwood’s vivid rendering of the cult’s intimate relationship to the natural world. Violent and bleak, but always salted with sardonic wit, this is a distinctive, brilliantly imagined piece of work with a ruthless, resourceful heroine and an unexpectedly optimistic ending.
