THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN by KATE MORTON

THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN

BY KATE MORTON

THE BLURB:-

Before her eyes the garden changed. Weeds and brambles, decades in the growing, receded. Leaves lifted from the ground, revealing paths and flowerbeds and a garden seat. Light was permitted entry once more...

1913

One the eve of the First World War a little girl is found abandoned after a gruelling voyage from England to Australia. All she can remember of the journey is that a mysterious woman she calls the Authoress had promised to look after her. But the Authoress has vanished without a trace.

1975

Now an old lady, Nell travels to England to discover the truth about her parentage. Her quest leads her to Cornwall, and to a beautiful estate called Blackhurst Manor, which had been owned by the Montrachet family. What has prompted Nell's journey after all these years?

2005

On Nell's death her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into a surprise inheritance. Cliff Cottage, in the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, is notorious amongst the locals for the secrets it holds- secrets about the doomed Montrachet family. But it is at Cliff Cottage, abandoned for years, and in its forgotten garden, that Cassandra will uncover the truth about the family and why the young Nell was abandoned all those decades before.

THE REALITY:-

It was the second time around for this one- I first read this novel at the end of 2013, after finding it and the author's first novel, The House At Riverton, in a local charity shop, before I started blogging and book reviewing. The latter got a re-read and a review after I chanced upon it in a charity shop (I love 'em!) in Boscombe, Dorset, and the way I fell into the path of this novel again is interesting. During my recent, wonderful trip to Cornwall, I bought writer Kate Morton's newest work in Asda. It gave a description of her previous work, including The Forgotten Garden at the back. I said to myself, 'Ooh, I'd love to read that again!' so I kept an eye out for it. Only days later I saw it in another charity shop; this one in Penzance. I did wonder why I'd ever given the book away, but the answer is simple- space. I'm not a hoarder and if I'd kept every book I've ever read then I would possess a veritable library! Anyway, this can stay in my collection for the time being, as it's a novel which enchanted and touched me, and it was also set in my beloved Cornwall. I'd love to visit there again and have earmarked Penzance- hanging off the edge of England- as a possible future place of residence.

Like the rest of Kate Morton's work, this novel has layer upon layer of intrigue and flits between the different time frames seamlessly (that's a commendable achievement in itself, as some novels of similar construction come off as messy). I always like the way that quotes and letters add interest to a book's structure and I especially loved the fairy stories penned by Eliza Makepeace, and their presentation, with copperplate letters at the beginning of each story. Really, these were so convincing that I had to question whether Eliza Makepeace actually really existed!

The whole notion of a secret, enclosed, forgotten garden is enough to whet my appetite, and when you place it into the setting of a maze, a manor house and a seaside cove, then that's me hooked. Add a bit of darkness- in the shape of the black rock and the black galleon, and a shady family who encountered their wealth by possibly illicit and unsavoury means, then that's every essential ingredient (in my opinion and personal taste) floating around in the mix. I also got to peek into a bit of history, as a life of squalor in Victorian London, secreted away beside the Thames was successfully brought to life; so earnestly that you could almost smell the badness of the river and the wickedness of some of the people...

There was an interesting combination of good and evil characters- I don't think I found any one person superfluous to requirements- and an equal measure of sadness. Sadness that Nell was hampered in her quest to move back to her roots in England by her daughter Lesley's behaviour, and sadness that Cassandra couldn't move on from the defining moment in her life. But the latter does- eventually, after discovering the secretive garden.

A novel I would describe as magical and, for me, educational. If I can bring this element into my future work (and I'm planning a time-slip novel- maybe I can work on it as part of my Masters Degree) then I'll be one happy bird.  This was unputdownable- at 644 pages long, I finished it six days after starting it.