In the spirit of Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller, Fox and I by Catherine Raven, and Wintering by Katherine May, THE NIGHT GARDENER is a beautiful inquiry into the natural world, as well as a contemplation on loss and grief and the hope of re-birth. A perfect mix of narrative, memoir and nature writing.

THE NIGHT GARDENER:
Grief, Regrowth, and the Secret Life of Nature After Dark
by Susannah Charleson
St. Martin’s Press, Fall 2027/Winter 2028

It is another sleepless night for Susannah Charleson, beset by grief over the death of her mother, and waging a years’ long battle with insomnia in the way one does when a loved one is lost and you’re left contemplating life. A shrill cry echoes in the middle of the night (Human? Animal? What?), and Susannah is drawn out onto her porch and suddenly headlong into a childhood memory of that same sound—a fox crying out in the dark—and a youthful fascination with the night that likewise kept her curious younger self up at odd hours. What goes on when humans are sleeping? Susannah remembers wondering. What lives do the plants, animals, and insects lead in the night?

And so, she lights on the idea of using her anxious, sleepless hours in another way—by gardening at night. She studies the medieval practice of two sleeps, in which an individual rests twice each night, divided by an active middle-of-the-night pursuit. She researches the history of the land and the soil on which her house is perched. She gathers tools, gear, seeds, and a research-grade microscope, hatching plans to rise night after night when the rest of the world is sleeping and work outside over the course of a year to transform her disheveled yard into a beautiful garden sanctuary and wildlife habitat. Frozen ground, stubborn roots, a fall that trips her watch alarm, a tornado blowing through, and a four-foot snake with a penchant for surprises make for a bumpy beginning, but as each night passes, dogs by her side, and progress is made, what Susannah discovers in the dark is a revelation. And a salvation.

THE NIGHT GARDENER is a beautiful look into the science of the natural world, as well as into the human soul, an inquiry of the sort that can only happen when the world quiets enough so we can listen, really listen, and see, and not just appreciate but come to understand. 

Susannah Charleson is an award-winning journalist, professor and the author of three books, including the New York Times bestselling Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search and Rescue Dog. Charleson’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, The Wall Street Journal, The Denver Post, AARP Magazine, People, The Bark, Life+Dog, and on ABC’s Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, and NPR’s Here & Now.