Nightfall in the Garden of Deep Time by Tracy L. Higley (Goodreads Author)

Amy Caudill‘s review

This lovely story centers around repressed, stressed Kelsey who divides her time between caring for her elderly “Gran,” and trying to keep their vintage bookstore open.  Facing pressure from a local developer determined to buy up all the properties on their street, as well as dwindling sales and pushy help, Kelsey is near the end of her tether.

While worrying over Gran’s declining health, Kelsey laments over her unrealized dreams of being an author, for fear of rejection, only for Gran to make a comment about the vacant lot, or ‘’garden” next door to the bookstore.  Kelsey decides to take a look and accidentally finds her way into a dream garden that seems too good to be real, except that the party going on there seems, feels, and tastes perfectly real.

Inside the garden, Kelsey finds the artistic encouragement she’s always needed, along with a challenge to develop her gift and “go deeper” into seeking the truth by a bevy of historical bestselling authors, artists, and musicians, who mysteriously seem to recognize her as “E’s girl,” which can only be a reference to her Gran. 

Faced with the fact that she’s losing time while in the garden, she must decide if she’s delusional, or accept the challenge to potentially grow as a writer and find the answers she desperately wants.  Meanwhile, the day the city takes over her property to sell to the developer grows over nearer, and her only hope may be to accept help from a publisher who wants to promote a best-selling book that sounds remarkably like her own story in the beleaguered bookshop.

This is a beautiful, imaginative work by author Tracey Higley that includes a dreamlike world I’d very much like to visit, as well as doses of real-life issues for the main character.  The twists and turns the author includes as Kelsey travels in the past, and explores hidden worlds made me wonder at one point exactly where the story was going, only for another twist to prove there was a plan all along.  Kelsey’s struggles very much speak to the writer in me, as she discovers universal truths for all creatives, about why we struggle and why we choose whether or not to take risks with our gifts.

I recommend this story highly, and award it five stars.