Brian Fogarty

‘The Greenhouse’ made its sensational debut in Panurge in 1984. The story of a schoolgirl who comes to puberty in a derelict greenhouse full of flowers all gone wild, caused controversy and critical acclaim.

Elsewhere in the sun-drenched garden her teacher and the rest of the party of children search for Sara. Their coach driver is being driven mad by the sun.

Meanwhile, Sara, amid the steamy peaceful silence of the greenhouse and the beaming masses of flowers, fantasizes her parents’ beautiful friend. In her mind, she conjures him to be with her in the greenhouse….

Long out of print, this lost masterpiece of beauty and suspense is collected here for the first time with some of Brian Fogarty’s earlier and more recent work, including extracts from his great African novel, ‘Red over Blue’ to be published in the summer of 2006.

Fogarty’s characters cling by their nail quicks to the world and think things they shouldn’t, which gives his writing the edged ring of truth, notwithstanding the dreamy landscapes and his quirky, lyrical prose comparable to the fizz of Swarfega running against tomato juice; magnolias knifed onto a canvas in an impasto of pink Germolene. These rude flowers are grotesque parodies of the common-or-garden seed packet.