The Night Gardener
#3784.05 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2014 Reading commitment Low Jonathan Auxier Last reviewed 2026-11-02
Overview
Jonathan Auxier published The Night Gardener in 2014 as a standalone ghost story for young readers. It is set in nineteenth-century England. Two orphaned Irish siblings, Molly and Kip, take jobs as servants at a decaying manor with a vast, dying tree growing beside it. The household is under a curse, and the siblings must discover what the tree takes from the family. The book is separate from the author's Vanished Kingdom series, which begins with Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. There are no sequels.
Dark fantasy, Historical fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Night Gardener Jonathan Auxier
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Night Gardener | 2014 | 1 | core | 4.05 (22,665 ratings) |
A standalone Victorian-style ghost story about two Irish orphans at a haunted manor.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Night Gardener? The Night Gardener's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Night Gardener finished? Complete (2014).
- How much reading does The Night Gardener take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is The Night Gardener ranked? #378 in this site's official ranking, based on 22,665 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #378?
Ranked #378 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.05 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (22,665 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #377, Tom's Midnight Garden (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 23k ratings · Ranks #378 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature (text), 2014: finalist: The Night Gardener
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.05 across 22,665 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 31 universes; 3 candidates ruled out; open items closed accepted 2026-11-02
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Jonathan Auxier Tier 2
- SuperSummary book brief Tier 2
- iMusic listing (Abrams, 2014) Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-02
Rule: Core Canon = The Night Gardener (2014).