MEET ME IN THE GARDEN
New Orleans, 1944. Odette has always been one of the Honore sisters, glamorous and admired in their Creole community. But while Odette’s older sisters are content to be wives and mothers, Odette has always wanted something else. It is only with her beloved cousin, Delphine, that Odette can tell her secret: she is in love with a woman, and she longs to be an artist. Delphine has a secret lover, too, a white man. In the hidden garden they’ve discovered, Odette and Delphine can dream of futures full of passion and freedom.
But five years later, Odette’s life is nothing like what she’d planned.
New Orleans, 1944. Odette has always been one of the Honore sisters, glamorous and admired in their Creole community. But while Odette’s older sisters are content to be wives and mothers, Odette has always wanted something else. It is only with her beloved cousin, Delphine, that Odette can tell her secret: she is in love with a woman, and she longs to be an artist. Delphine has a secret lover, too, a white man. In the hidden garden they’ve discovered, Odette and Delphine can dream of futures full of passion and freedom.
But five years later, Odette’s life is nothing like what she’d planned. She’s a widowed mother, living in Los Angeles, and she and Delphine, who is passing as white, have spiraled away from each other. When Delphine reaches a breaking point, Odette must make a shattering choice to try to hold her family together.
Profound and expansive, a story of love and longing, art and motherhood, friendship and desire, Meet Me in the Garden is a decades-spanning tour de force, inspired by the author’s family and tracing the history of the Great Migration.
- Flatiron Books
- Hardcover
- August 2026
- 400 Pages
- 9781250810472
Buy the Book
$29.99
About Nina LaCour
NINA LACOUR is the award-winning and bestselling author of Yerba Buena, as well as many works for children and young adults. A former indie bookseller and educator, she lives with her family in San Francisco
Praise
A Most Anticipated Book (Harper’s Bazaar, People)
“LaCour explores her family’s Creole roots during the Great Migration in this sweeping historical fiction novel… As the years go on and their lives change in ways they never expected, Odette and Delphine contend with what it means to love, make art, and be free.” —Harper’s Bazaar
“Sweeping and profound.” —People
“A masterpiece that stands as an exceptional work of historical fiction…This character-driven beauty is an immersive, heartfelt triumph. It is a fantastic must-read that will resonate deeply with fans of Alice Walker and Brit Bennett.” —Booklist (starred review)
“A gorgeous family saga that dares much and delivers on its promise… LaCour’s sensuous novel is steeped in rich details of jazz, Creole cooking, and California glamour, and the characters are pitch-perfect.” —Publishers Weekly
“A page-turner…Rich with cultural references…[A] sensitive examination of one woman’s hard-fought journey to self-acceptance.” —Kirkus
Discussion Questions
- The garden is one of the novel’s central symbols. What does it represent to Odette and Delphine at the beginning of the story? How does its meaning change over time?
- Odette is constantly balancing different parts of her identity, including being a daughter, mother, artist, queer woman, and member of the Creole community. Which aspect of her identity felt most central to her journey, and why?
- The novel explores the tension between living authentically and protecting the people you love. Did you sympathize with the choices Odette made? Were there moments when you wished she had chosen differently?
- Art is both a refuge and a risk for Odette. Why do you think painting feels so closely tied to her sense of self? How does her artistic journey mirror her personal one?
- Family is portrayed as both deeply loving and deeply complicated. How does the novel challenge the idea that family always knows or accepts the “real” you?
- The story explores colorism, racial identity, and passing in nuanced ways. How did these experiences shape the characters’ relationships with one another and with their communities?
- Although the novel unfolds during major moments in American history, those events are experienced through the characters’ personal lives. How did this perspective change your understanding of the historical setting?
- Longing is a defining emotion throughout the novel. How did the secrecy surrounding many of the relationships affect your reading experience? Did it make the romance more powerful?
- Several characters are forced to choose between personal freedom and belonging. Which character’s choices or sacrifices resonated with you the most, and why?
- By the end of the novel, do you think Odette finds the life she imagined in the garden as a young woman, or something different? Did you find her ending hopeful, bittersweet, or both?