AustLit

In this finely drawn novella, Clarke portrays the free-spirited Sonia sacrificing her scruples and, more importantly, her first love, the handsome gardener, to the callous millionaire, John. Like the flowers that grow his garden, John’s obsessive love for Sonia is tainted with corruption and as a result, a malevolent presence affects the garden to the present day. Unable to resist her fate, Sonia marries John, a man whom she does not love, because he can provide for her and her unborn child. Decades later, the malevolent phantom of the past threatens to wreak havoc on a writer and his mother, who knows the secret to the possessed garden, involving the fate of Sonia. Therefore, she must tell her writer son before it is too late. ‘The Flowers of Spring’ represents Clarke at his finest, exploring the corrosive effects of money and the consequences for those who obtain it.