The Enchanted Greenhouse

The enchanted greenhouse is the novel’s namesake, its primary setting, and a motif of the theme of Escaping Isolation Through Empathy. From its creation, the structure is associated with isolation because Laiken built the greenhouse in an unsuccessful attempt to distract his ailing daughter from her dreams of exploring the world. After Ria’s departure and death, the remote island of Belde, which was once “almost […] a village” (143), became even more secluded as Laiken isolated himself and drove most of Yarrow’s family away. One of the novel’s plot twists and a key development for the theme is the revelation that the sorcerer is responsible for the destruction afflicting his creation: “[The spell] was supposed to isolate the entire greenhouse from the rest of the world. He thought it was the only way his creations could be safe—if they were severed from everyone else. Alone” (311). By making Laiken’s final spell go disastrously awry, Durst emphasizes that severing oneself from the outside world is damaging even though it might seem safer at times. In contrast, Terlu and Yarrow demonstrate that empathy is the cure for isolation by reviving the dormant plants, welcoming back Yarrow’s displaced family and opening the island to other refugees.