It is World War II, and Franny and her parents, Sina and Old Tom, enjoy a quiet life on a farm on Vancouver Island. Franny writes, Sina sculpts, and Old Tom tends to their many gardens--including the ancient, mysterious night garden. Their peaceful life is interrupted when their neighbor begs Sina to watch her children. Soon after the children move in, amid the chaos of the household, Sina sees UFOs, a hermit makes himself useful, a mystery involving the neighbor's husband and a spy plane emerges, and the night garden reveals its powers of wish fulfillment. Twelve-year-old Franny Whitekraft lives quietly with her adopted parents on a farm on Vancouver Island until the spring of 1945 when the three Madden children move in, UFOs and ghosts appear, an important military airplane disappears, and wishes made in Old Tom's forbidden night garden will hopefully get everyone out of trouble.