I was busy going about all the daily jobs this morning, not a care in the world. Happy to be able to do anything, really. It was a when I stopped for a quick rest, that my mind had other ideas. First, it supplied me with a long list of things I should be doing this afternoon. This always happens whenever I want to switch off my brain for a while. Then something else turned up.
It was a strange woman whose name was Michael. I knew instantly that this was my next story, and everything else left my head without so much as a by your leave. I shall have to make notes, at the very least.
I can’t help feeling pleased that my brain is planning ahead…
This Weeks Review
Three women. Three generations. One spellbinding mystery . . .
Once upon a time, a little girl was found abandoned after a gruelling sea voyage from England to Australia. She carried nothing with her but a small suitcase of clothes, an exquisite volume of fairy tales and the memory of a mysterious woman called the Authoress, who promised to look after her but then vanished.
Years later, Nell returns to England to uncover the truth about her identity. Her quest leads her to the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast, but its long-forgotten gardens hide secrets of their own.
Now, upon Nell’s death, her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into a surprise inheritance: an old book of dark fairy tales and a ramshackle cottage in Cornwall. It is here that she must finally solve the puzzle that has haunted her family for a century, embarking on a journey that blends past and present, myth and mystery, fact and fable . . .
About the author
Kate Morton
KATE MORTON is an award-winning, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author. Her novels – The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Lake House, The Clockmaker’s Daughter and Homecoming – are published in over 45 countries, in 38 languages, and have all been number one bestsellers around the world.
Kate Morton grew up in the mountains of southeast 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.
“I fell deeply in love with books as a child and believe that reading is freedom; that to read is to live a thousand lives in one; that fiction is a magical conversation between two people – you and me – in which our minds meet across time and space. I love books that conjure a world around me, bringing their characters and settings to life, so that the real world disappears and all that matters, from beginning to end, is turning one more page.”
Our Review
It was the title of this story that made me buy it. Knowing how forgotten my own garden was at the beginning of the year, still haunts me. It is looking better now, I am very happy to say.
When I started reading, I wasn’t expecting to be whisked away on a magical journey into another world. This author is not known to me, but I already know I shall be reading more of her work.
The story begins with how Nell was abandoned, and her struggle to find where she belongs. And her granddaughter Cassandra, who inherits the mystery and continues the search. The charming Christian Blake provides the romance factor, as the story unravels.
This is a story about a lost child and a mysterious garden. A story full of memory prompts that trigger tearful responses, this story has carved a place in my heart and mind…
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