Set in Toronto in the blistering summer of 1971, Back to the Garden is about four strangers who take a chance on a new psychological treatment: group therapy. What seems, at first, like a good idea, quickly spirals out of control as the participants connect outside of the sessions in unforeseen and catastrophic ways, each character locked into an escalating crisis. Funny and heart—breaking, Back to the Garden is a love letter to Toronto at a pivotal point in the City's coming of age — when the folk scene was in full throttle, disenchantment over Vietnam was gathering momentum, the authority of the psychiatric establishment was called into question and social forces were pressing for a more inclusive society. The novel's themes of human rights, bullying and mental illness make it increasingly relevant.