With neither of their parents alive, the four of them lack all supervision and are free to take care of themselves – although it doesn’t seem as though they are doing a very good job of it. “At the back of my mind I had a sense of us sitting about waiting for some terrible event, and then I would remember that it had already happened.” Afterward, the house is likely to be torn down – both things that their mother did not want. The two of them are faced with a challenge: what should they do with their mother, now that she has died? If they alert authorities, they are likely to be separated and placed into foster care or an orphanage. Seventeen year old Julie places herself in charge, much to Jack’s dismay, but eventually he concedes and allows her to do as she wishes. After the father dies, the mother follows suit shortly after, leaving four children alone. The Cement Garden is told from the point of view of 15 year old Jack, one of four siblings living in a house together with their parents. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading.” “Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it’s okay to be a boy for girls it’s like promotion. While I did find it disturbing, it didn’t make me want to quit reading or anything, because it had a lot of other stuff going on in the book and I felt that it was only a minor story arc. Honestly, it was quite disturbing, and for a lot of people this will be a deal breaker for whether or not to read this book. You will find a bit of that in The Cement Garden, as well – between Jack and Julie. If you are familiar with that book, you know it deals with some difficult situations and dark themes, including incest. The Cement Garden has done just that – it was certainly the kind of book I’m not sure to forget anytime soon.Īlso, I feel it’s important to point out that The Cement Garden reminds me a lot of Flowers in the Attic.

It’s hard to find a thriller that truly unnerves me and shakes me to my very core. There is…a lot to unpack with The Cement Garden.įirst of all, it’s my ideal book – incredibly dark and unsettling – a thriller that you won’t soon forget.

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan