The Wonder Garden includes 13 interconnected stories that not only portrait the inhabitants of Old Cranbury, but also the houses they lived in, which play an important role in many of them. From a teaching perspective, this book also has lovely cross-curricular links to science and geography, covering the themes of the environment and conservation including:

The Umbrella Bird- Describes the story of a woman who must come to terms with her husband's drastic and unexpected career change. Located in the northern part of Riyadh for easy access for visitors, the new zone is set to be a must-visit this season. Technically considered a "novel in short stories," and if we're splitting hairs here, I'd say that's exaclty what a novel is, but on a greater scale; this one just perfectly aligned everything...and in all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of the short story. Moon Roof - Lois Hatfield, on her way to a party thrown by her husband’s boss, gets caught at an intersection and cannot decide when to go. Lauren Acampora's intriguing, well-written collection of linked stories, The Wonder Garden, strives to give us insight into the lives of strangers, as she focuses on the residents of Old Cranbury, a well-heeled suburb not far from Manhattan. From John, the home inspector whose intense attention to detail in his professional life hasn't seemed to translate into his personal life; to Madeleine, whose life is upended when her husband leaves his corporate advertising job to pursue a career as a healer; from Harold, whose fascination with the brain veers into bizarre territory after he forms an alliance of sorts with a surgeon; to Camille, whose frustration with motherhood and life after divorce fuels her desire for a life elsewhere, these stories chronicle hope and disillusionment, happiness and hurt, desires realized and desires thwarted.

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The book offers some hints of social commentary but for the most part these characters remain completely involved in their privileged bubble, incapable of seeing beyond their suburban needs and their "keeping up with the Joneses mentality". Like Wharton, Acampora seems to understand fiction as a kind of elegant design. As characters reappear in one story after another, Acampora reveals herself as a careful architect . . . accomplishes great depth of characterization, in no small part because Acampora doesn’t shy from the unpalatable . . . There is a barbed honesty to the stories that brushes up against Acam­pora’s lovely prose to interesting effect. Often a single sentence twists sinuously, charged with positive and negative electricity.”—Alix Ohlin, New York Times Book Review Sentry - when her neighbor’s child is left unattended for a prolonged time, Helen Tanner invites her in, to hang out a while, then a while longer, then… This book is different than any other short story collection I’ve reviewed for this blog. The stories are so tightly and deftly woven together that I’m going to write about characters rather than specific stories. These stories take place in the small NYC suburb of Old Cranberry. It is an upper middle class suburb populated mostly by those who work in the city and their spouses. This set of stories spans a longer time period than most short story collections. It is difficult to get an exact number of months, but it seems to be approximately a year. Afterglow" - creepy story about inappropriate ethics and boundaries while searching for intimacy, knowledge, and mastery of death. A kind of riff on the "Bride of Frankenstein" story in a way!

He understands now that every man keeps a detail or two in a neutral place inside his own brain, and the wise ones never enter that particular cabinet".

Learning From Reading ‘The Wonder Garden’

It would not be a portrait of a town if the residents were not watering at least a garden-full of secrets. she becomes aware of the hidden, parallel world beneath the mundane. Just beneath the surface of every defunct moment—finding a spot in the supermarket parking lot, waiting at a stoplight—lurks another moment, sexual, adulterous, waiting to be chosen. It shimmers faintly, a phosphorescent arc of lighter fluid ready to catch fire, detectable only to those attuned to it. She parks the car and watches the men and women going in and out through automatic the doors. Which of them are alight, secretly smoldering?Unfaithfulness is to be expected. Some marriages are strained, while others, surprisingly, appear to be strengthened by big changes. How about wanting to violate all medical ethics to perform a very strange and intimate act? Maybe show the world the face of a concerned citizen but indulge in a bit of pointed vandalism? There is plenty of imposturing going on here. Maybe parenthood is not for everyone, including some parents? Maybe nurture fears that go well beyond the understandable? A sense of the past permeates as well. There is enough moral ambiguity through the thirteen to spark book group debates aplenty. Swarm" - this is the vermin-themed art installation story - I've already tried to pique your curiosity there, because it's a great story. Poignant and about hubris, I guess - a bit of an Icarus theme. "The Wonder Garden" is another story a bit about a family betrayal of sorts stemming from hubris gone way awry... These machines are the pumping heart of the house; everything else is frivolous and disposable in comparison.