About The Forgotten Garden
Published: 2008
Book Tropes: Foundlings, Time Hops, Family Secrets, Mysterious Houses, Australia
Recommended for fans of: Susanna Kearsley, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, Possession by A. S. Byatt, The Thirteenth Tale by by Diane Setterfield
Forgotten Garden was the first book that I decided to read from my Fall 2021 Reading List — since that was the book most people recommended! It turned out to be a very engrossing read, and managed to get me out of my reader’s block.
Plot:
In 1975 Australia, Cassandra finds out that her grandmother Nell had purchased a mysterious house in Cornwall. It’s a house with a rather unkempt and walled-off garden that Cassandra wants to fix. But why did Nell purchase such a house in the first place? Turns out Nell was a foundling all the way from England. But who were Nell’s parents? Why did they abandon her in 1913? How did Nell find out about her secret family history? And how much did she find out?
Thoughts:
The mystery is like a slow un-layering. Every time you think you’ve reached the central question, turns out to be there’s one more puzzle to be solved. The pace is unhurried, meandering randomly between 1880s and 2005 and across multiple character POVs. Typically, I don’t have much patience for Past/Present time hops, but here it seemed to work very well. Before I knew it, I was reading non-stop to get to the bottom of things.
There are a few red herrings, where Morton tries to give false leads to who Nell’s parents were. I could have lived without those, because I think by the 50% mark, we know who the parents and the villains are. I would even call the ending predictable. But really, it’s now who but how which matters more. That final missing piece on how the events snowballed in 1913 was actually quite good — and also quite bittersweet. Despite our best efforts, some plans are laid to waste.
And guess what? Turns out that Morton’s own grandmother had been a foundling, and Forgotten Garden isn’t all fiction after all. Well, I suppose fiction is never just fiction, eh?
18 replies on “The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton”
I don’t always love dual timelines in a story, or multiple POVs, but it sounds like they’re both done really well in this book.
Yes! Here it works out overall. I’d love to see a movie on this some day.
So glad you loved it. This is my favorite by her
It was actually your recommendation which encouraged me to read this — so thank you!
This sounds like a neat read! I hadn’t heard of the book before you mentioned it initially, but the past/present time jumps sound like they were done really well. I agree that they are more often done poorly than well.
The imagery of the garden and the house was done really, really well. I think this would be fertile grounds (pun intended!) for a movie or even a TV show.
I like the sound of the unhurried pace. I’ve seen this one around before and it does sound very promising. And how neat that there’s a real life connection!
Yep, you noticed all the key points Greg! (And sorry for the late reply, been all over the place lately…)
I really enjoyed your review. You know, there are some books that you just know where the ending is headed but as long as it’s a story that’s kept me entertained and I’ve enjoyed then I don’t mind. I’m looking forward to reading this one. I’ve read one book by Kate Morton and loved it.
If you like family sagas rolled up into mysteries — which I *think* you do — you’ll like this book too for sure. 🙂
Ah yea! I finally have a book on my TBR in common with you. I can’t wait to start reading this one. So glad to hear you liked it so much.
Super, would love to know your thoughts on this one!
I thought I had read all her books except the Clockmaker’s Daughter but this does not sound familiar. I am glad you enjoyed it! I may get the audio as my drives back and forth to work are causing me to zip through several books.
I usually enjoy dual timeline books but it depends on the skill of the author, I suppose.
I’ve never heard of her Clockmaker’s Daughter (only Lake House, I think). And I think that the audiobook version for this would be pretty good, it’s one of those books that would do well on audio.
I like dual timelines and Kate Morton is one of my favorite authors. This was one of her great book, in my opinion.
I’m visiting you throough The Intrepid Reader site for the historical fiction challenge. (waving at you from Florida!)
Hallo Tina! Thanks for stopping by. And obviously, sorry for the late reply. My blogging habits have not been faring well. This was my first Morton book, but will definitely not be the last one!
I read and enjoyed this one (quite a while ago if I remember correctly). I enjoy dual timelines and think the slow reveal was well done.
Lynn 😀
I enjoyed it too, I keep thinking it would make for a great movie/ period drama.