National Network for Equitable Library Service

Set in Toronto in the blistering summer of 1971, Back to the Garden is about four strangers who take a chance on a new psychological treatment: group therapy. What seems, at first, like a good idea, quickly spirals out of control as the participants connect outside of the sessions in unforeseen and catastrophic ways, each character locked into an escalating crisis. Funny and heart-breaking, Back to the Garden is a love letter to Toronto at a pivotal point in the City's coming of age--when the folk scene was in full throttle, disenchantment over Vietnam was gathering momentum, the authority of the psychiatric establishment was called into question and social forces were pressing for a more inclusive society. The novel's themes of human rights, bullying and mental illness make it increasingly relevant.