Allusions
The historical part of the book is set in the grounds of a mansion, which in many details resembles the real house in which the author grew up: the Mill House in Great Shelford, near Cambridge, England. Cambridge is represented in fictional form as Castleford throughout the book. At the time she was writing the book, the author was again living in Great Shelford, just across the road from the Mill House. The Kitsons' house is thought to be based on a house in Cambridge, near where Pearce studied during her time at university.
The theories of time of which the novel makes use derive in part from J. W. Dunne's influential 1927 work An Experiment with Time, which also inspired others, including J. B. Priestley.
Read more about this topic: Tom's Midnight Garden