The Someday Garden

Sophie Drear and her best friend, Harriett “Harrie” Fisher, arrive at Lilymoor House and Gardens in Odette, Maine, the final stop on their post-college road trip. A flashback reveals they met as freshmen at Duke and bonded over a PBS documentary about the gardens. Sophie had described her intense desire to visit as a kind of homesickness for a place she has never been, which Harrie, a collector of untranslatable words, identified as the German word fernweh.

In the present, Sophie, a biology major, and Harrie, an aspiring novelist, explore Lilymoor. Sophie is skeptical of the local legend that one can hear their true love in the gardens, but Harrie believes in the magic of the place. After getting briefly separated in a hedge maze, Sophie finds Harrie, who jokes she was talking to the voice of her true love.

As sunset approaches, they discuss their imminent separation—Harrie is heading to graduate school at UCLA, while Sophie will intern at the New York Botanical Garden. Saddened by the thought, they make a pact to return to Lilymoor together in 10 years for its 200th anniversary, sealing the promise with linked pinkies.

Ten years later, Sophie is the new head gardener at Lilymoor, on a temporary summer assignment from the New York Botanical Garden to restore the grounds for the upcoming bicentennial celebration. She rescues an elderly visitor from the aggressive resident goose, Damnit, while Reggie, the border collie tasked with controlling the bird, proves useless. She is observed by Wykofski, the resident groundskeeper and handyman, who calls her “Sunny.”

Sophie reflects on the challenges of her job. Lilymoor has fallen into disrepair since its owner, Eula Beck, has aged, and important records were lost in a fire 16 years prior. Sophie is currently struggling to identify a mysterious vine that is spreading through the hedge maze. As she works, she is struck by the memory that this day marks the tenth anniversary of her and Harrie’s visit.

As evening falls, a cool breeze blows through the maze, and a previously unseen blue door suddenly appears in a hedge wall. Intrigued, Sophie opens it and steps inside.

Sophie enters a small, keyhole-shaped garden that appears unfinished rather than neglected, with a partially constructed gazebo, an overturned wheelbarrow, and scattered, unplanted seed packets. She discovers a man with copper hair, dressed in an expensive suit, asleep under a large willow tree.

Sophie wakes him to let him know the gardens are closing for the night. The man is initially disoriented, then becomes rude and dismissive, claiming he was merely resting and knows the gardens better than she does. He seems to believe he is at a party and grows frustrated when he cannot get cell service. As they argue, they hear sirens approaching in the distance. Worried that there has been an emergency, Sophie leaves the man in the strange garden, assuming he can find his own way out.

Leaving the Hedges, Sophie meets Wykofski, and they rush to find the Events Coordinator, Juliette, fearing she is the reason for the approaching sirens. They find Juliette safe in the kitchen garden just as a fire truck, playing loud music, arrives at the manor. Atop the truck is an elderly woman whom Juliette identifies as Eula Beck, the owner of Lilymoor.

Eula, who was supposed to remain in outpatient rehabilitation while recovering from a hip fracture, announces that she persuaded the staff to release her because she was bored. Firefighters help her down and give Juliette her medical instructions. Having never met her in person, Sophie is formally introduced to Eula, who greets her as “the magical Sophie Drear” (31).

Sophie is uncomfortable being called “magical,” believing her skill with plants is based on scientific knowledge rather than supernatural abilities. She reflects on her inability to save people from illness and death despite her ability to care for plants. After Eula dismisses the firefighters, she remarks that there is comfort in knowing someone you love will love longer than you. The sentiment makes Sophie think of ya’aburnee, one of Harrie’s untranslatable words.

That evening, Eula gathers Sophie, Juliette, and Wykofski on the veranda. Before the meeting, Sophie mentions the mysterious blue door and unfinished garden, but Eula insists that no such door exists in the Hedges. Eula then announces that according to her late husband Henry’s will, she must name a successor to oversee Lilymoor. She plans to announce her retirement and the estate’s new steward at the bicentennial party in approximately a month and a half. Juliette and Wykofski are stunned by the short timeline. Eula mentions Henry’s niece as one possibility, then names her great-nephews Oliver and Cyrus, an idea that her staff does not seem to endorse. She then instructs Juliette to publicize her retirement and the upcoming celebration heavily.

Sophie returns to the small groundskeeper’s cottage where she is staying for the summer. She calls her mother and reflects internally that her supervisor at the NYBG, Jeff, suggested the Lilymoor position because he was concerned about her declining performance at work. He hoped the summer would help her decide whether she wanted to continue in her career. Sophie knows her burnout is a result of grieving Harrie, who died a year ago.

The conversation with her mother makes Sophie anxious, as she avoids discussing Harrie with people from her past. She reflects on an alternate reality where Harrie lived and on the loneliness of losing her best friend. After the call, Sophie consults a small brown journal of untranslatable words, finding an entry for a very cherished person: ciğerpare. She then picks up a Magic 8 Ball—heavier than a normal one, the first thing she unpacked when she arrived—and asks if she is “wasting [her] time”; the toy responds, “ASK AGAIN LATER” (57).

Sophie dreams she is back at Lilymoor with Harrie 10 years ago. As they explore the manor, Harrie discusses her desire to write a novel but expresses doubts about her abilities. Sophie warns her that she can’t keep putting off her writing, but she cannot bring herself to say the words. Their conversation is interrupted when they overhear an argument on the veranda between two men. One, a handsome blond man standing at the top of the steps, confronts another man with hazy features as he walks away. The blond man forces a smile and tells Sophie and Harrie to “enjoy the gardens” (60) before returning inside. The dream blurs as she and Harrie wander happily through the gardens. Sophie wakes up crying, overwhelmed by the feeling of Harrie’s absence.

The next morning, Sophie returns to the Hedges to investigate the mysterious vines but is chased by Damnit the goose. She escapes by running up the veranda steps, where Eula witnesses the encounter. She explains that her great-nephew Cyrus rescued the goose when it was young. Eula then apologizes for dismissing Sophie’s earlier mention of a secret garden, speculating that it must be one of her late husband Henry’s unfinished projects; she insists that Sophie doesn’t need to worry about it.

Eula tells Sophie that her lawyer has sent over an amended employment contract, which Sophie finds on the veranda sideboard and signs. They also discuss a mysterious flooding issue in the Wildflower Garden, which Eula confirms has been a problem. Sophie suspects the water is seeping through a stone wall bordering the off-limits Willow Grove. Later that day, a gust of wind blows Sophie’s hat over that same wall. When she looks up, she sees the blue door has reappeared, now in an entirely different location. She opens it and steps through.

Sophie finds herself back in the same unfinished garden, though she knows the Rose Court should be on the other side of the wall. She finds the rude, copper-haired man from before, who is relieved but angry to see her. He accuses her of leaving him trapped in the garden and ignoring his calls for help.

They argue, confused by each other’s version of events. Sophie insists she left him the previous day, while he claims it was only an hour ago. He also mentions she was wearing a dress, which Sophie denies. Frustrated, he demands that she open the door, which he claims is locked. To prove otherwise, Sophie grabs his lapel and the handle and pulls the door open, dragging him off-balance as she steps through. When she turns around to face him, both the man and the door have vanished, leaving only a solid stone wall. Sophie searches the wall and checks its opposite side but finds no trace of either. As a storm rolls in, she sets aside her panic to help secure the manor’s windows.