The Rooftop Garden

by Menaka Raman-Wilms

A thought-provoking debut novel that examines the intersection of climate change, human connection and radicalization. The Rooftop Garden is a novel about Nabila, a researcher who studies seaweed in warming oceans, and her childhood friend Matthew. Now both in their twenties, Matthew has disappeared from his Toronto home, and Nabila travels to Berlin to find him and try to bring him back. The story is interspersed with scenes from their childhood, when Nabila, obsessed with how the climate crisis will cause oceans to rise, created an elaborate imaginary world where much of the land has flooded. She and Matthew would play their game on her rooftop garden, the only oasis in an abandoned city being claimed by water. Their childhood experiences reveal how their lives are on different trajectories, even at an early Nabila comes from an educated, middle-class family, while Matthew had been abandoned by his father and was often left to deal with things on his own. As an adult, Matthew’s dissatisfaction with life leads him to join a group of young men who are angry at society. He eventually finds himself on a violent suicide mission, but Nabila isn’t aware of the extent of his radicalization until they finally meet on a street in Berlin.

Genres: Canada, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Friendship

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was longlisted for the Giller prize and it certainly merits this recognition. The narrative follows Nabila and her complicated relationship with a childhood friend. Nabila was a well-rounded little girl with loving parents while Matthew's childhood was fraught with abuse and neglect. Throughout adolescence and into adulthood, Nabila feels a sense of obligation toward Matthew, which ultimately leads her to travel to Berlin in an attempt to help him escape a group of dangerous radicals. The author uses trees to symbolize Matthew's aloneness and the need to be part of a larger group (forest, friends, family) to flourish.

[Fran Hawthorne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As third-grade playmates in Toronto, Nabila and Matthew had pretended that the garden on the roof of Nabila’s apartment building was the only safe spot in a world flooded by climate change. They made imaginary meals with dirt and leaves, and debated which animals (and pirate ships) might survive. Almost two decades later, Matthew is caught up in a far more dangerous fantasy – recruited into an undefined terrorist organization – but this time, he doesn’t have Nabila to help him.

In three alternating narratives – Nabila’s voice in the past, and Matthew’s and Nabila’s voices in the present – The Rooftop Garden adroitly weaves the themes of friendship, responsibility, and climate change into an unlikely thriller.

Nabila’s attitude toward Matthew has always toggled from bossing him around, to tolerating him, to worrying about him, to being annoyed with him, to shunning him, to feeling guilty about her annoyance and shunning. For his part, Matthew, who is mentally disabled, has always followed Nabila’s lead and adored her. As older children and then adults, their paths diverged: Nabila is now a university researcher studying how seaweed adapts to warming oceans, while Matthew works in a fast-food joint. After Nabila stops into the restaurant, they somewhat revive their relationship with occasional texts, but Nabila pushes him away again, annoyed by his neediness. Then, when Matthew’s texts start to hint that he’s unhappy and feels trapped, Nabila guiltily decides that she needs to go to Berlin and help him get away.

The first half of this debut novel is slower and more pensive. Then it abruptly turns into a page-turner, as Nabila tries to track down Matthew before he can do any damage.

The childhood scenes could easily have become saccharine, but author Menaka Raman-Wilms, a veteran journalist based in Toronto, handles them with just the right touch. The main problems are that the current-day timeline for the Matthew and Nabila chapters is confusing for much of the book, and Matthew’s terrorist crowd are sadistic, cartoon villains. Still, those are minor flaws in an original, complex, and beautifully woven story. (Adapted from my review in the New York Journal of Books. https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book...)

[CanadianReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving and nuanced.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5 rounded up

This was fine but the protagonist's naivety becomes grating towards the end and didn't make sense for someone that age. Not expecting this to be shortlisted for the Giller.

[Mariam Elashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The quality of writing here BLEW ME AWAY. I will never understand how someone can create such interesting characters and a story with so much dept in barely 200 pages.

[Linda Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it very much. I really liked the back and forth time lines. Also was interesting to see the relationship between the characters grow and change

[J.J. Dupuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rooftop Garden is an interesting exploration of the white male radicalization that we’ve witnessed all too frequently in today’s headlines. The book is about two childhood friends, Nabila and Matthew, who imagine they are survivors in a flooded, post-climate-collapse world. Nabila is studious and science-minded, Matthew is lonely, impressionable and the only boy from a broken home. They grow distant as they grow older, Nabila still feeling responsible for Matthew, who is prone to falling in with bad crowds and making bad choices.
The beautiful characterization gives weight to Matthew’s decent into the toxic world of far-right, macho terrorism. It’s a subject that could be handled two-dimensionally, but Raman-Wilms builds to character and story with so much care that we can see how a lonely figure from a broken family can be sucked into a deplorable organization even though his intentions are not evil. The story defies cliché and expectations, while giving us a powerful story about friendship and the duty that comes along with it. The Rooftop Garden reminds the readers of the Mark Twain quote “no man is a failure who has friends.” A sleek-yet-wonderfully-descriptive prose style makes the novel a quick and fulfilling read.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested to read The Rooftop Garden by Menaka Raman-Wilms because I love indie CanLit and I’m glad I finally read this one even though I didn’t love it. It’s about Nabila, who travels from Canada to Berlin to find her lost childhood friend Matthew. I enjoyed the Berlin setting especially in contrast to Canada and I liked this novel’s focus on friendship. We learn more about Matthew and Nabila in childhood flashbacks and the stark differences in their lives. I liked how each of the characters were so distinct including Tierney. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator Alison Deon did a fine job. I didn’t care for the ending but I’d be interested to read this author’s next book.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy!

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wrote this long ass review chock full of spoilers, but the reality is: incel terrorist sympathy is crazy, my guy, do not pass go do not collect $200 do not write about it if the final takeaway is not “these people are all fucking terrible”

2 stars ONLY because while I would not recommend this book, I do think the author is a good storyteller and could write a very good book without… all that.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced listener's copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Barbara McVeigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read

[Adam Ferris · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Nabila patted his arm. On her own she couldn't save much, she understood, but maybe she could save him. Maybe she could help."

"She felt superimposed upon a landscape that knew she didn't belong in. She wasn't sure the feeling would fade."

"Afterwards, thought, he'd walked up to the tree and touched the bark. There were lots of bullet markings and he didn't know which one he had made. He felt he should say sorry to the tree, then felt stupid."

[Diana Stevan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote a review for the Miramichi Reader. Here is a sample of what I wrote.

The Rooftop Garden by Menaka Raman-Wilms is not a book I would normally pick up, but the plot intrigued me. The idea someone could be seduced into doing something out of character was an idea I wanted to explore. The novel promised to be a story of a young man or woman who’s easily indoctrinated to go against their family values or the values of the society they’ve been raised in.
And here, the author doesn’t disappoint. What I had hoped for, I got. Though the story of The Rooftop Garden is fictional, I’m reminded of something Salman Rushdie once said, “novels tell the truth.”

An excellent story of an unlikely pair.

[Laurie Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really didn’t know much about this one. I just knew it was on the @gillerprize long list so on my list it went! Basically we get flashbacks and present day between two childhood friends, Nabila and Matthew. Nabila has a great career as a research biologist and Matthew is struggling. Menaka Raman-Wilms does a really incredible job painting a picture of how someone can become radicalized, showing how Matthew went from an ignored, easily manipulated child to a man who can’t stand up for himself and falls into “this is society’s fault.” The novel also pieces together parts of climate change and realism of the characters to a perfect boiling point of tension. The book made me uncomfortable, but I think that was part of the point. I thought it was very well written, and I’m glad I read it.

[Bhuku · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deeply sad story exploring the human side of incels… only to make our incel character not completely detestable the author had to keep his reasoning ability/thinking pattern at the level of a young child, even as he became a young adult. While the friend matured mentally as she ages, he does not — and this is not explained, beyond him having an unhealthy home environment and mean sisters.

📚 Series or Standalone: standalone
📚 Genre: literary fiction
📚 Target Age Group: adult
📚 Cliffhanger: no

✨ Will I Reread: no

💕 Characters: 2/5
💕 Writing: 4/5
💕 Plot: 3/5
💕 Pacing: 3/5
💕 Unputdownability: 3/5
💕 Enjoyment: 3/5
💕 Book Cover: 3/5

Thanks, NetGalley, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

First read on the Giller Prize long list. 3 rounded up from 2.5 stars. Not really sure how this made this list.

Some spoilers ahead, beware! The premise of friendship between the two main protagonists, Nabila and Matthew, feels implausible. They played together as children, they barely knew each other as adults, yet she flies to Berlin from Toronto ostensibly because he's in some sort of trouble, driven by the guilt she feels for her impatience with him in the past. She seems to spend a few weeks in Berlin trying to track Matthew down while he seems to ghost her (albeit intermittently). The prose is unadorned and utilitarian. The style reminded me of a grade school reader.

[Jo Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deeply moving and unsettling. A disturbing insight into how little it really takes for a disillusioned young person to become radicalised.

The flashbacks to the rooftop garden were somewhat touching. I felt for Matthew, but equally Nabilla who was also just a child.

That Nabila held onto such love for a childhood friend whom she’d lost touch with, that she travelled to Berlin to try to safe him seemed far fetched yet also completely believable.

The writing was excellent, as was the narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

[Jane Mulkewich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the writing and the character development in this book; not sure I loved the plot / storyline. This book was longlisted for the Giller prize; quite an accomplishment for a debut novel. Two characters who shared a world as children, reconnect as young adults. Nabila is a young biologist who understands the potential disasters to be created by man-made climate change, and Matthew is a neglected lost soul who no one seems to pay attention to, who ends up in an ill-defined group intent on inflicting violence for ill-defined reasons.

[Ruth Seeley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this attempt to explain how and why young men become radicalized Incels is, quite frankly, unconscionable and totally irresponsible. It trots out every trope: poverty, neglect, abuse, bullying, a female-dominated household and absent father, and presents a character who's so easily led he almost becomes a terrorist. I can't believe this was published. Are there now sensitivity readers looking out for the interests of Incels? Are we *that* woke? If so, give me a break.

[Srividya Rao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giller Prize longlisted, debut. Very well written. Through a childhood friendship of two kids from very different backgrounds and abilities, this book explores complex issues of loneliness, alienation, incel radicalization, climate anxiety etc. The flash-backs to the childhood provides the grounding and also explains the feelings of guilt of one towards the other. The end feels inevitable and bleak.

[Lea Doxey · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many layers to this novel it is one that will linger with me. What happens to those in an our society who are lonely? How are those who are weak exploited? How do our childhood memories shape who we become? I really enjoyed this book. At times it was frustrating to read due to the characters’ choices, but it all tied together and showed we are all flawed. An incredibly well-crafted novel.

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trigger warnings for abuse, domestic violence, bullying, assault, assault with weapons, radicalisation and terrorism

I would have liked more integration between the climate change and terrorism plot lines but Menaka has done a masterful job of pacing the downward spiral of matthew's ( a young man with a learning disability) decent into radicalisation and the desperation of the only person who cares for him.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I can't say that I felt connected to this story. The premise is so intriguing, but the execution fell totally flat for me. It wasn't a super short book, but it felt like more of a vague outline vs something that really drew me in. I would love to see someone else try to tackle this premise, even though I don't see myself ever sympathizing with the incel crowd.

Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite compelling subject matter. I picked up the book for the climate change bent, but was not expecting a dive into incel radical/terror groups. While the book unfolded in quite a gripping way, the climax and ending is rushed and, in my opinion, somewhat inadequate. The reader is left wondering of the greater impacts on Nablia in a way the epilogue leaves wanting. Nevertheless, solid writing and character arcs.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of this story is very interesting and gives some insight into the methods used by terrorists to radicalize recruits. I liked the shifting back and forth between past and present and it was done quite seamlessly. The only aspect I found a bit implausible was the relationship between Nabilia and Matthew - they did not seem likely friends to me.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what this was about when I started reading (I avoid blurbs) which made my feeling even more intense. The characters felt very real to me. I was a bit distracted by the chronology and am not sure it added to the story, struggling to know if it was past it present would make me have to disengage from the story line, most of the time it was obvious but at some points it wasn't.

[Janet D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very different type read than I usually pick up. I describe it as a quiet story but with lots of feelings and thoughts of the two main characters. A childhood friendship that was kept quiet, and then an adult connection as Matthew, who is passive and a follower, is drawn into a rebellious group. Really interesting style and story.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a sad book. It broke my heart to see how easily Matthew was seduced into radicalization, but it rang all too true in this crazy modern age. I felt for Nabila, and her guilt that drove her to Berlin. Aside from those parts of the plot, the book was also quite a good story.

[Ashlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author highlights the naiveté of early adulthood in an impactful way. The ending felt intentionally abrupt. This could be a good conversation starter, but doesn't have the nuance to replace fulsome conversations about the radicalization of young white men.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book of juxtaposition, beautiful imagery and a surprising (yet not) ending.

[Patsey]

A Giller longlist. Really interesting. Very current. Unsettling. I need to mull it over now