Plot summary

In The Cement Garden, the father of four children dies. His death is followed by the death of the
children's mother. In order to avoid being taken into foster care, the children hide their mother's
death from the outside world by encasing her corpse in cement in their basement. Two of the
siblings, a teenage boy and girl, enter into an incestuous relationship, while the younger son starts to
experiment with transvestism.
The narrator is Jack !"#, who has two sisters, Julie !$# and %ue !&#, and one brother, Tom '#.
(hen they were younger, Jack describes how he and Julie would play doctor with their younger
sister, although he is aware that their version of the game occasionally broke boundaries. Jack then
mentions how he longs to do the same to his older sister but it was not allowed.
(hen Julie begins to date a man called )erek and invites him round to their house, Jack feels
*ealous and shows hostility towards him. )erek becomes more and more interested in what is
hidden in their cellar but the children attempt to hide it from him. (hen a smell begins to emanate
from down there, he helps to reclose the trunk their mother is hidden in. Tom eventually tells Jack
that )erek has told him that their mother is down in the cellar.
The story comes to a climax when Jack enters, apparently absent+mindedly, naked into Julie's
bedroom. ,nly Tom is there and he begins to talk to him about their parents. They fall asleep
together, in Tom's crib, naked because of the heat. -fterword, Julie enters and perhaps surprisingly,
does not say much or show surprise on his nakedness, only to *oke that 'It is big'. They sit on the
bed and whilst talking, they become more and more intimate with each other. Julie encourages him
to go on. .ight at this point, )erek enters, remarks that he has seen it all and calls them 'sick'. (hen
he is gone, they begin to have sex. - thudding noise can be heard and their sister, %ue, informs
them that )erek is smashing up the concrete coffin. They begin to talk, remembering their mother,
and after a while, they sleep, while police lights illuminate the room through the window.