HEDGE
By Jane Delury
“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, Best Books for Spring
“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 of Summer 2023
“Some books enter you like a hallucinatory drug and, for a time, overtake you. You may even begin to dream about the novel you’re reading—or feel somehow that it’s dreaming you. HEDGE proves to be such a work.” —The Washington Post
A summer away. One troubled marriage. Two daughters. And the love interest that threatens to ruin it all.
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, 19th-century Hudson Valley estate.
While waiting for her daughters to join her at the end of their school year, Maud meets coworker, archeologist 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. Hedge is a deeply moving portrait of a woman’s longing to be a good mother while still answering the call of her soul and mind.
Bonus Reading Content
Read the inside scoop here including book trailers, interviews, playlists and other fun content! Click here.
Reviews, Praise & Press
“Reading Hedge was 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
“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
"It’s impossible to turn away from 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
“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
"Hedge is the sort of novel that immediately pulls the reader in with its engaging storytelling and its exploration of themes like marital and maternal love and betrayal. I loved this novel and will recommend it widely." —Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Long Bright River
"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, author of The Good Left Undone
"A beautiful exploration of the fragility of family life and the inherent tension between motherhood and desire. I simply could not put it down. Transfixing and utterly rewarding." —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Spectacular
"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
"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
Why Zibby Loves It…
Jane Delury is masterful with her prose, but that isn’t why I love HEDGE. Well, it isn’t the only reason I love HEDGE. This book is like a gift arriving on your doorstep that allows you to wonder about love in midlife. It’s an invitation for all parents to remember that they, too, are human and deserving of love and affection, and that life doesn’t necessarily have to plod on. Love, passion, intimacy, and connection aren't relegated to the past. In fact, there's always more to look forward to at any age.
HEDGE is also a page-turner. It plays on those fraught nerves and the exposed parts of ourselves where the fear alone that something might hurt our children is enough to kill us.
It’s also beautiful and transportive. Jane takes us through gardens, into the dirt of flower beds, around paths and plains with the very heart of nature bursting through. It’s sensual, visual, and therapeutic in the way that a walk in the park can change our entire view of life. We flee. We travel. We admire. We marvel.
And we do all of this while enmeshed in the complications of a mother’s feelings about her marriage, her desires, and her children. It has all the elements of a completely sensational story and is written powerfully and lyrically.
HEDGE will rejuvenate you. It will make you think and feel. It will make you question and even, perhaps, enact some necessary changes. Most of all, it will entertain you on every level.
HEDGE will change your life.
And that’s just part of why I love it.