Nina LaCour has proven to be a remarkably versatile writer. She started out writing for young adults, and has since published both picture books for children and novels for adults. That includes MEET ME IN THE GARDEN, which, as a work of historical fiction, continues to chart new territory for this talented author.

The book is narrated by Odette, who both is and isn't an “Honoré girl.” As the lone sister who remains unmarried when the novel opens in 1944, she's the only one to still carry that surname. However, unlike her married siblings, Claire and Adele, Odette has never strived to conquer the domestic sphere, to land a successful, handsome husband and become the envy of New Orleans's other Creole families. Odette's desires are both unusual and secret. She longs to paint and harbors a private love for Hattie, the local dressmaker. 

"MEET ME IN THE GARDEN vividly illustrates how Black and queer people had to adapt and survive during the turbulent years of the mid-20th century... Odette's story is by turns heartbreaking and hopeful."

Only Odette's best friend, her cousin Delphine, knows about her double life. But soon Delphine, who is even lighter-skinned than Odette, embarks on a new life of her own. She has become romantically involved with a white man, gotten pregnant, and set off for Los Angeles, where she can pass as white and they can live as husband and wife, which would be impossible in Louisiana. 

Odette is heartbroken to lose her friend, especially after family circumstances allow her to also move to Los Angeles with her sisters and their husbands. This time, it's Odette who's passing --- as straight, marrying Hattie's brother so that she can gain social respectability and escape the mother whose betrayal of her father she's never been able to forgive. But in order for Delphine to pass successfully, she must never associate with the Honoré sisters again.

Over the next two decades, Odette makes a new life for herself in California, consistently making choices that keep herself and her most precious loved ones safe, even at the expense of her own feelings and desires. LaCour exquisitely balances the personal and the political throughout this timeline. She outlines the shifting attitudes about race, gender and sexuality and incorporates real-world events such as wars and riots. At its heart, the novel is a deeply personal exploration of motherhood, sisterhood, friendship and self-discovery. 

LaCour reveals in an Author's Note that some of Odette's story is inspired by the history of her own family, many of whom made the big move from Louisiana to California in the wake of World War II. MEET ME IN THE GARDEN vividly illustrates how Black and queer people had to adapt and survive during the turbulent years of the mid-20th century --- and the creative ways they discovered to seize love and joy for themselves against many long odds.

Odette's story is by turns heartbreaking and hopeful. It ends with her ready to start yet another chapter, perhaps the most promising one yet.