I read Kate Morton's other book The House at Riverton last year and whilst I enjoyed it, I didn't love it so I was a bit anxious about reading her new book The Forgotten Garden. However, I shouldn't have worried as I thought that it was brilliant, it is definitely in my top five favourite reads of the year so far!
I'm sorry to be lazy and give you the blurb again but it would be too easy to give away the little twists and turns in this book and they are undeniably the best bits!
1913- On the eve of the First World War a little girl is found abandoned after a gruelling ocean 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 Mountrachet family. What has prompted Nell's journey after all these years?
2005- On Nell's death her grandaughter, 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 Mountrachet 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.
So as you can see there are three strands to the story, all with their own discoveries and secrets. Kate Morton weaves the three strands together brilliantly, we learn more about Nell's past but we are constantly given new questions and mysteries to solve and this is what keeps you turning the pages. Gardens are key to the story in this and Kate Morton's last book. The Forgotten Garden at Blackhurst Manor holds the answers that Cassandra is looking for, she just needs to know where to look exactly. I think a garden is a really intersting symbol, they promote new life and new beginings but if left uncared for then they become overgrown and therefore cover up the past and any secrets held within.
I really enoyed all the characters that Morton created, you feel that none of them are meerly filling space, they all have something important to contribute to the story. It is the story that I loved, it was entirely believable and you can feel the sheer frustration of the characters of Nell and Cassandra in particular as they try to uncover the past that their ancestors went to great lengths to cover up. If you have read The House at Riverton and enjoyed it then you would love this as it is so much better. If you haven't read anything by Kate Morton but love a good mystery with love, intrigue and a country estate and all that that brings then you should definitely give The Forgotten Garden a try.
