Review by Marcel Cantu -- Elizabeth's Garden

[Marcel Cantu]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Elizabeth's Garden" by Phillip Leighton-Daly.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Elizabeth’s Garden by Phillip Leighton-Daly is a historical fiction short story that takes place near the Hawkesbury River in Australia during the 1800s. The story begins with two travelers, a man and a woman, scaling a mountain to reach a destination unknown to the reader. They arrive and find a gravestone marked with the inscription, “Elizabeth Davis 16 years.” As they approach, the elderly, male traveler is overcome with emotions and memories and begins reciting a story from times past.

The story is Liza’s and begins with her family's arrival to the uncertain banks of the Hawkesbury River. One fateful morning, Liza and her family were heading toward an island church when they were attacked by pirates resulting in the demise of Liza's father. The tragedy catapults Liza on a quest for justice, not only for her family, but also as an Aboriginal freedom fighter. On these ventures, Liza encounters scenes of grotesque horror as well as moments of personal danger. How does Liza’s story end? Who are the travelers that sought out her grave? These and other events are explored in Elizabeth’s Garden by Phillip Leighton-Daly.

I enjoyed the vivid language used throughout the text. Leighton-Daly brings to life the scene around the Hawkesbury River and compels the reader to follow along the engaging story laid out in Elizabeth’s Garden. What I disliked about this story was its brevity. This seventeen-page story does not give time for the story to develop as well as it could. Some of the characters and situations in the story are confusing due to the lack of background information and development given.

I would give Elizabeth’s Garden by Phillip Leighton-Daly a three out of four stars rating. The story had great potential but was not developed to the point where it could be truly engaging. Additionally, points of the story were confusing and hard to follow because of the lack of surrounding information. If the book was edited and lengthened for clarity it could achieve a perfect rating because the plot and characters are definitely interesting and unique. The story is also very well edited and contains no spelling or grammar errors.

I would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction. Elizabeth’s Garden would especially appeal to those who enjoy learning about the time period and location this story is placed in. This story does contain some graphic descriptions of violence so I would only recommend this book to those who do not mind reading graphically violent content. Overall, this is book is a individual and meaningful read.

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Elizabeth's Garden
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[Kavita Shah]

For a 17-paged story it sounds incredible. It packs a great story with travelling and a mysterious grave. I am looking forward to reading it. Thank you for a great review!

[Becca Olsson]

I love when an author can write such compelling characters and storylines in as short a space as this. Thanks for the great review!

[ikechukwuamarachi+55]

Such an experience must have been scary and horrific for Liza. Nice review.

[Rwill0988]

Great review. This sounds like a well written 17 pages. I wonder whether the author was using this short story as a jumping ground for a larger book. Could you see this story being developed into a full novel?