Boeiende roman met de plot van een thriller. Canobbio brengt het verhaal van hoofdpersonage Claudio Fratta, tuinarchitect, samen met het verhaal van een tuin die hij in opdracht van Elisabetta Renal, een wat geheimzinnige vrouw, bedenkt en uitwerkt. Steeds meer raken de levens van Claudio en Elisabetta met elkaar verweven, waarbij het verleden van Claudio en zijn familie een steeds nadrukkelijker rol gaat spelen. Bij momenten is het verhaal wat moeilijk te volgen omdat ook verleden en heden, innerlijke en uiterlijke realiteit in elkaar grijpen op een manier die het onderscheid soms erg diffuus maakt. Een auteur om nog wat van te lezen. ( )

Claudio Fratta is a landscape and garden designer who likes to get his hands dirty. Prior to the beginning of The Natural Disorder of Things he witnesses a murder at night in a deserted grocery store parking lot. A man he is watching is run over by a white van. Seconds later, another car drives over the fallen man, finishing the job. Claudio follows the car, which in a short while careens out of control and off the road. Claudio rescues the injured woman from behind the wheel, takes her to hospital emergency, and leaves her there, never learning her name. Five months later he receives a call from a woman, who identifies herself as Elisabetta Renal, asking him to design a garden for her and her husband. Intrigued by her voice, which sounds like the woman he rescued, he agrees to meet and discuss the job. The story that develops from this point is (somewhat like a garden) surprising, compelling, and occasionally meandering. A lot of space is devoted to Claudio’s back story, his complex and tragic family history. But the back story is necessary as it is here that the key to everything is to be found. Andrea Canobbio’s fifth novel (and first to be made available in English) is something of a hybrid, sitting on the fence between contemporary literary fiction and noirish murder mystery. Throughout, the writing is lush and atmospheric (Abigail Asher’s fluid translation from the Italian is to be commended). Undeniably, there are times when events strain credibility, but it’s probably a matter of opinion whether or not this in any way diminishes Canobbio’s accomplishment. Some minor flaws aside, a strong argument can be made that The Natural Disorder of Things succeeds in telling its tale of revenge and star-crossed love in an exceedingly entertaining manner. ( )

Very unique story of a gardener caught up in a series of crimes and murders. Difficult in that the narrator tells many white lies to the characters--as well as the reader. ( )