The Forgotten Garden

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This is the first time I have read any of Sharon's books and I will be looking out for other stories to add to my collection as they give you that lovely feel good factor which we all need in our lives., What will draw in most readers almost immediately is the complex, multilayered plot that is so twisted (in a good way!) it's nearly impossible to figure out (too far) in advance. But this is so much more than an ingenious story. Author Kate Morton has crafted a novel that almost doubles as a fairy tale. The end result is a book that is both entrancing and highly original.

The base of Santa Monica Mountains is now home to Brentwood, an affluent neighbourhood in L.A., a stone's throw from Beverly Hills and Santa Monica bay.

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It has everything a good story needs a solid plot, an interesting and realistic characters. An unconventional setting really adds to the experience. A really great read.

The Forgotten Garden is a multi-generational mystery that reveals itself bit by haunting bit, featuring three women: The story flows well as we see changes in the garden and all it’s volunteers arise. The hope and the plant life flourish. The darker side of life for one talented teen, Harper, is also explored as she juggles caring for her young brother, school work, a job and her own community service as well as a drunken father and no good parolee cousin. the life cycle of any insects, butterflies etc that need a food source at a certain time, also protecting our valuable pollinators and insects from chemical interaction. The story begins with a little girl found all alone in 1913, taken in by a couple desperate for children, raising her as their own, naming her “Nell”. Once Nell learns the truth, she is shattered by the revelations, and sabotages all the plans she has for the future. Years later, she is given a chance to learn more about her true heritage, but it wasn’t until her granddaughter inherits Nell’s estate, that the truth is slowly unearthed. This fun, easy read enthraled and captured our senses immediately. Like 'The Lighthouse Bookshop', Sharon's previous and second novel we reviewed last year has the same compelling storytelling air.

The California Botanic Garden once held the promise of being globally recognised and scientifically important. Sadly, it is now a forgotten place but, although the Garden is gone, its incredible story still lives on in the DC collection in Kew's archive. The Forgotten Garden exhibits many of the Gothic conventions found in books like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, most poignantly the dark and gloomy estate. There are also recognizable parallels between this novel and Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. [2] Publication history [ edit ] The idea seems to end when Luisa declines, not wishing to open old memories and wounds. But, after a rather curt demand from her boss, and with a bit of persuasion from Jo that she really should go; after all, what harm could it do, plus it could be the galvanizing she needs to break away from Marianne, Luisa heads for the derelict land that could be the home of a new community project. This beautifully written story unfolds in a lovely descriptive way and pretty soon I was as much invested in the garden project as was Luisa and her helpers. The small Cumbrian town is brought vividly to life, with its areas of social deprivation and inevitable troubled thuggery, and yet it also offers a glimmer of hope as the community realise that pulling together is better than allowing events to pull them apart. a captivating tale of century-old secrets, family and memory . . . Beautifully written and plotted.’ — Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin

The Forgotten Garden is just the type of novel I can lose myself in. I love family secrets within a historical setting that spans generations. The story hinted at deep, dark secrets, but there weren't really any. I had guessed the mystery of who Nell's mother was very early on and it was so obvious that I can't imagine that the author didn't mean to tell us which is bizarre. There was some weirdness hinted at about an Uncle that never materialised and the standard romance between two paint-by-numbers characters that was flat and uninspiring. The majority of the protagonists were unlikable or simply so dull that you didn't care for their fate anyway. The epilogue was trite. With the main characters assembled, this is where the story takes off. Harper has to make a decision that ultimately spirals out of control. Other characters, too, make choices, the end of which could destroy them or be their making. One thing is certain: come the end of one night not far from this point, nobody in Collaton will ever be the same. Kate Morton was born in South Australia, grew up in the mountains of south-east Queensland, and now lives with her family in London and Australia. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and harboured dreams of joining the Royal Shakespeare Company until she realised that it was words she loved more than performing. Kate still feels a pang of longing each time she goes to the theatre and the house lights dim. The main characters are well developed and all grow as the story progresses. It is a story of hope and fulfilment bound together with lots of garden details as the plants grown and garden flourishes.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.

How are the family all involved in the disappearance of that little girl nearly a hundred years ago? This is a big ole book to get through. I was so intrigued in the beginning to find out what really happened to Nell. Why was she on that boat all by herself and not being able to remember everything. With a romance that gently simmers, a plot that flows as fast as the North Sea tides, and some gentle reminders of the need to protect our oceans, The House Beneath the Cliffs provides the perfect holiday getaway' Lancashire Post Nell, had a wonderful life until her father tells her a secret when she turned 21 (I think it was 21) and she got all mad and left everyone and dropped everything. Sigh. She got with some idiot and did a few idiot things and had an idiot daughter. BUT. If she hadn't done these things she would never have had Cassandra as a granddaughter and Cassandra was a good person. Mandeville Canyon is home to Hollywood film stars such as Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Some of their neighbours included the likes of Steven Segal, and Mandeville Canyon was once home to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Recent divorcees Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin bought a house in the Canyon in 2012 which is worth 10.45 million dollars! For this rather hefty sum the residents enjoy a variety of magnificent vegetation such as huge Redwoods, ferns, palms and fruits such as papayas and an abundance of wildlife including coyotes, mountain lions, deer, and roadrunner birds.The beauty of this book for us was, whilst we don't do romantic fiction as a rule, there is so much more going on that the story takes on a larger vista driven by the subplots of Max, Harper, Casimir, and Luisa, which all came together beautifully and dramatically towards the end. And the final chapter is not what I expected either, which is always a pleasant surprise. Mrs H said she had an inkling of things that might happen later when the adventure entered the town's scrap yard, but that was all. A] dark, suspenseful feast for history-lovers . . . a delicious book to get lost in.’ — Sunday Telegraph Then I didn't read on. I didn't read on because this book is based on an idiot, and I have a short fuse when it comes to idiots. Let's just say that I don't suffer them lightly. With a drunk father at home, who clearly doesn't understand Max, Harper looks after her brother and cooks and cares. Given the reputation she has, nobody dares tease or bully Max. Doing her A-Level exams and trying to work part-time at the gym, and at a local garage to earn the money they need to get by is tough. But Harper has the grit to match her determination. Never more so when it comes to protecting Max from the nastiness that is the world outside his own. Aussie author Kate Morton deftly managed to push nearly every one of my reading buttons with her lovely book, The Forgotten Garden: