Review of The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The Forgotten Garden

By Kate Morton

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book – a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, “Nell” sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrests of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.

This book completely had me captured from page one. The story of the little girl on the ship and how she found a new life in Australia was heart-wrenching. It was sad to think that she had lost a family somewhere but no one knows where.  The story starts with the little girl on the ship in 1913 and then goes back and forth between 1907, 1913, 1975 and 2005. The author does it so smoothly that it is a great addition to the story and not a detraction at all. It makes the story so much stronger. The addition of the different fairy tales from the book found on the little girl in 1913 is just an added bonus. I think it was brilliant!

There are some of the same characters in each era but many different ones. Ms Morton writes in a way that you are brought in to love and hate them all. No character is too minor. See if you can figure some connection to Nell and a family Cassie meets in 2005. They are all relevant. It is subtle but it is all in there if you just look!

It is such a great story about self discovery, courage, love, tragedy, and adventure.  The author has included them all in this book. The following is one of my favorite lines from the book: Ever since Eliza had discovered the book of fairy tales..had disappeared inside its faded pages, she’d understood the power of stories. Their magical ability to refill the wounded part of people. I love that line because that is exactly it! The book does that for all involved in the end. It will refill the wounded parts.

This is a 5 star book for me. I have not read Kate Morton before but will definitely be picking up another one of hers. Her writing is clean, smooth, and just beautiful.