Bock took several years to write the novel, re-writing several drafts, before having it published in August 2001 by HarperCollins (Canada), Alfred A. Knopf (USA) and Bloomsbury (UK).

It has been analysed in several literature journals, including Canadian Ethnic Studies which noted the similarities between the character Emiko and the Hiroshima Maidens.

[3][4] With a working title of A Man of Principle, Bock gave the draft to editor Phyllis Bruce in 1999 and sold it to Knopf for US$250,000.

Following the atomic bombing, with her parents dead, Emiko and her brother recover in a hospital and her grandfather cares for patients.

Anton was a scientist in Nazi Germany who, following a disagreement regarding the direction of its nuclear program, is recruited by the US and flees via France, Spain, and Portugal.

Anton regrets the consequences of the atomic bombs, attends the Pugwash Conference, but maintains his belief that it was necessary to end the war and prevented more deaths.

Feeling he had to make amends in some way, he ensured that Emiko was on the list of girls to get reconstructive surgery, and secretly filmed her at memorial events.

"[1] In Harper's Magazine, Pico Iyer compares The Ash Garden with Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient as "a book that ends where Bock's begins".

[9] An essay in the journal Canadian Ethnic Studies, looked at The Ash Garden from the a Japanese historical perspective, finding strong similarities between the real-life Hiroshima Maiden Shigeko and the character Emiko, but noting it was not a roman à clef.

[13] In Time, Brian T. Bennett wrote, "The Ash Garden may not be a page-turner, but Bock's prose lures the reader along through smooth, sculpted sentences full of rich detail and subtle meditation.

"[14] In Maclean's magazine, Brian Bethune wrote, "Intellectually engaging, beautifully written and powered by three memorable characters, The Ash Garden will seduce anyone who reads it.

"[15] In the Christian Science Monitor, fiction critic Ron Charles wrote "Bock moves back and forth through time in a series of exquisite scenes, always keeping his vision tightly focused, despite the world-altering events he describes.

[21] The review in The New York Times by literary critic Michiko Kakutani called it "an elegant, unnerving novel" but that Bock "tries too hard to underscore those links by using leitmotifs to connect his characters' experiences".