The Forgotten Garden

By Kate Morton

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Average Rating: (See all 4 reviews) Format: Paperback, 512 pages Published In: Australia, 01 July 2008 Quantity Available: 10 Ships within 6-11 days A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, a mystery - The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton. Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family. Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace, the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century, Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself. Publisher: Allen & Unwin ISBN: 1741149983 EAN: 9781741149982 Dimensions: 15.0 x 230.0 x 3.0 centimeters

I'm actually embarassed by how overrated this book is. The characterisation is poor - you can never really empathise with them or feel strongly moved by them. Why was Eliza so devoted to Rose? Because the writer puts a few lines in simply stating that they are but as a reader you're never convinced. The plot is predictable and the reader's guessed what the big twist is by the middle of the novel then has to endure the author's insulting and frustrating pondering back and forth that maybe the 'big secret' is actually someone else. It just makes the lead character, Cassandra, appear silly. The book entwines three periods and three heriones, but two would have been sufficient, the middle one is completely unnecessary. It's a long book which spends pointless pages relating the same information to the reader in triplicate. Cassandra reads a journal about it in 2005, then Nell discovers the information in 1975 and then Rose actually writes about it in the journal in 1913 - why?? The book is in need of a severe edit - the cliches are endless and at one stage Ms Morton even mixes up the characters, Rose would have been Cassandra's great grandmother not grandmother!). The absolute failing of this book however is that it has no heart or passion. You can't get over the feeling that Ms Morton has learnt how to write by simply mimicing other novels she's read. It's a bland family saga that thinks it's a mystery novel for a while but just ends up feeling contrived.

This book offers a clever insight into the human spirit. The characters in this book are compelled, for reasons different but intertwined, to discover who they really are and to courageously overcome tragedy and adversity. The answers they find are brilliantly reflected in the original fairytales woven within the storyline and the symbolism of the forgotten garden. This is a moving mystery, a rare gem in Australian literature and a must read.

It is a rare book that manages to entice me from the first paragraph such as this one did. Drifting in and out of different times spanning a century, Kate Morton has successfully mastered this style of writing while steadily unfolding the secrets of a family with many twists and turns that kept me wanting to read throughout the night. I can't wait for her next book!

This is a stunning read. Kate morton weaves an entrancing tale of family secrets and mystery that keep you wondering and guessing which way the plot will end, twisting and turning just like the bramble maze from the novel's family estate, a sinester focus that ultimately shrouds the conclusion.

We readers learn a lot about different levels of family shame, protectiveness and disparation that the Victorian era is justifiably famous for. We see the characters at many different stages of their lives, and the facets are intriguing as well as credible. Period pieces can sometimes fall out of sense, lose the plot. Kate Morton's work,however, does not disappoint.