The Cement Garden
by Jimmy Osborne

Name: The Cement Garden
Brand: Jimmy Osborne
SKU: 9781472583833
Rating: 3.6 (625 reviews)

The Cement Garden Book Cover — The Cement Garden Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

One Act British

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the dark and unsettling themes of The Cement Garden, noting its compelling narrative and unique writing style. Many find the psychological depth and emotional journeys of the characters to be both captivating and disturbing. However, some express disappointment with the unresolved ending and lack of adult themes, suggesting it may not meet everyone's expectations.

Dark and unsettling themesCompelling narrativeEmotionally impactful charactersCaptivating writing styleUnresolved ending disappointment

Synopsis

“I did not kill my father, but sometimes I felt I had helped him on his way.

And but for the fact that it coincided with a landmark in my own physical growth, his death seemed insignificant compared with what followed.

I am only including the little story of his death to explain how my sisters and I came to have such a large quantity of cement at our disposal.”

In the relentless summer heat, four children retreat into an isolated world left to them by their parents and attempt to create their own version of a family.

Ian McEwan's first novel, The Cement Garden, written in 1978, explores coming-of-age, burgeoning sexuality and the distortions of a fourteen-year-old mind.

David Aula and Jimmy Osborne's stage adaptation approaches the horror of the story through the innocent eyes of children, and encourages an audience to remember the games, irreverence, and shadows of their youth: to remember and reinvent their sense of invincibility.

The Cement Garden received its world premiere as part of Vault Festival Waterloo, on 28 January 2014.