Hedge - by Jane Delury (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"As lush and inviting as the gardens created by its heroine, this novel...will wrap you in captivating, high-stakes drama."--People Magazine (Best Books Summer 2023)

"A great portion of [Hedge's] magic lies in how it turns a radical corner, gaining speed and burning urgency--then slowly becoming something else: deeper, denser, wiser. Readers will (and should) trust it to take us where we need to go--even if not where we expected."―The Washington Post

Featured in Oprah Daily's Spring 2023 Reading List and Kirkus Reviews

An emotionally charged, richly observed novel about a woman balancing the demands of motherhood and marriage with her own needs.

Maud is a talented garden historian and devoted mother to daughters Ella and Louise. Motivated to reinvigorate her career and escape her troubled marriage, she accepts a summer job restoring the garden of a lush, nineteenth-century Hudson Valley estate.

While waiting for her daughters to join her at the end of their school year, Maud meets coworker and archaeologist Gabriel Crews, whose passion for landscape history matches her own. When their immediate and intense friendship ignites, it sets in motion a seismic shock that will profoundly change Maud's life, as well as the lives of everyone she cares about.

Review Quotes

"With language as lush as the setting, Delury pulls readers into a thicket of lust, responsibility, and betrayal that they won't want to escape."
--Oprah Daily

"As lush and inviting as the gardens created by its heroine, this novel...will wrap you in captivating, high-stakes drama."
--People Magazine (Best Books Summer 2023)

"A great portion of [Hedge's] magic lies in how it turns a radical corner, gaining speed and burning urgency--then slowly becoming something else: deeper, denser, wiser. Readers will (and should) trust it to take us where we need to go--even if not where we expected."
―The Washington Post

"The book is brimming with high-stakes tension...and readers will find themselves unable to put the book down until they find out what happens next."
―BookTrib

"[A] sharply drawn portrait of anguish, loneliness, fear, and desire, it delivers an engaging new journey from ignorance to knowledge via a garden. A persuasive, quietly satisfying portrait of a woman's midlife crisis and the essential choices she makes."
--The Kirkus Review

"In this profound novel about love, loss, and choices, a summer's exciting work and exhilarating affair will reverberate through the lives of a deeply likeable protagonist and her family for years."
--Shelf Awareness

"Filtered through the fierce love of a mother for her child, the book compassionately represents the messes people create and scramble to fix...Readers who enjoy themes of women's lives and relationships will be fully invested in [Maud's] journey."
--Library Journal

"A beautiful exploration of the inherent tension between motherhood and desire. Transfixing and utterly rewarding."
--Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular

"Reading Hedge is like spending time with your best friend: the daring, smart, compassionate one whose wisdom opens your eyes even as her secrets stun you. Part love story, part thriller, this novel kept me entranced until the very last page."
--Jean Kwok, New York Times and international bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee

"The magnificent Delury explores the complexities of marriage, parenthood, and art in Hedge. Maud is an every woman, relatable and strong, who loves her work and her daughters but finds herself at a crossroads when a secret is revealed that will upend their lives. As Maud restores gardens to their historic beauty, she must do the same for the family she loves. Passion and persistence bring a garden to full bloom, and so it goes for Maud, an unforgettable character in a story of arresting beauty and truth."
―Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

"Jane Delury has done the impossible: written a seemingly quiet novel about a woman trapped in a bad marriage that builds and builds and builds until suddenly you realize you're reading a page turner. I could not stop turning the pages. Hedge is a wonderful book."
--Marcy Dermansky, author of Hurricane Girl

"Hedge immediately pulls the reader in with its engaging storytelling and its exploration of themes like marital and maternal love and betrayal. Every turn the story takes feels both surprising and earned. I loved this novel and will recommend it widely."
--Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River

"It's impossible to turn away from Jane Delury's newest novel, Hedge. I fell deeply and intensely into this story of love, loss, marriage and parenthood. These are characters, this is a book, you will never forget."
--Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane

"Hedge insightfully explores the complexities of marriage and motherhood, and the danger of family secrets that fester. Delury builds up her characters while breaking down their reserves, and the result is an honest, beautiful, and riveting read."
--Karen Winn, author of Our Little World

"Hedge begins as a contemporary love story, but grows into a complex and suspenseful narrative about family. All the big themes--love, life, loss--bind together in this page-turner, with writing that is clear and riveting throughout. A gem of a book from start to finish."
--Catie Marron, author of Becoming a Gardener: What Reading and Digging Taught Me About Living

"How do we protect those we love when there might be a terrible cost to ourselves? Which version of a story do we really believe about ourselves and others--and why? Delury's immersive novel is about family and lovers, passion and responsibility, and it's filled with such gorgeous writing, compassion and stunning surprises, that I couldn't bear to tear myself from the page."
--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You

About the Author

Jane Delury won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for her first novel, The Balcony. Her short stories have appeared in Granta, The Yale Review, and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, among other publications. A professor of creative writing at the University of Baltimore, she lives in Maryland with her family.