I read a review of The Red Garden on Goodreads that I’d recommend as another helpful lens on the novel.

The reviewer suggests this is a “piece of experimental fiction, a Tarot deck of about a dozen characters—human or not—that Hoffmann continually reshuffles and deals into new configurations.”  Then she lists the characters: “The Red-Haired Woman/Girl, The Solitary Man/Lost Boy, The Lover, The Outsider, The Newcomer, The Bear, The Dog, The Eel River, The Apple Tree, The Meadow, The Museum, The Red Garden (aka the Private Grave).”

I also appreciated the reviewer’s assertion that “The elements of the setting are as much characters as are the people” and offers the example of  “the Museum” which  “reflects the town’s fortune, prospering when the town does and closing when it doesn’t.”