When Mr Harrington Brande moves himself and his precious young son Nicholas to a grand house in the deserted Spanish town of San Jorge he is planning on a fresh start for the two of them. And only the two of them.

For Mr Harrington Brande is a proud man and a jealous man. His beloved wife has recently fled his stifling love and now Brande has transferred all of his adoration onto Nicholas. He monitors his son’s every move and is obsessed with ensuring that the bond between them is stronger than ever.

But history begins to repeat itself when Nicholas befriends the gardener José. José is like no one Nicholas has ever met before and he instantly holds him in high regard. Brande does not take too kindly to having to vie for his son’s attention with the Spanish gardener, and becomes increasingly suspicious of his rival. Encouraged by his butler, Garcia, Brande becomes convinced that José is not the person he pretends to be.

Blinded by love and jealousy, how far will Brande go to secure his son’s affections?

In the magnificent narrative tradition of The Citadel, The Stars Look Down and Cronin’s other classic novels, The Spanish Gardener is a great book by a much-loved author.