Vee's Book Review: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Finally, a very satisfying read. I've read a couple of books since my last book review such as Time Traveller's Wife and The Nine Lives of Clemenza- but they both left me empty. The Time Traveller's Wife was extremely entertaining and a very good read- highly recommended if you are looking for a good love story. The writing style was a bit "Nicholas Spark-ish" - not usually my cup of tea. The Nine Lives of Clemenza was very interesting- about a soul that goes through 9 reincarnations- from air to human. It was more of a novelette though- short and sweet, whereas I was looking for something with more substance than these two novels could offer.

This is the description for The Forgotten Garden from Amazon: "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 with very little to go on, "Nell" sets out on a journey to England to try to trace her story, to fi nd her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets 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. At Cliff Cottage, on the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, Cassandra discovers the forgotten garden of the book's title and is able to unlock the secrets of the beautiful book of fairy tales."

My overall rating: 8/10

I really enjoyed The Forgotten Garden. I am not going to get into any particular details of the storyline because it spans 3 generations with a different yet entertwined story for each of the 5 main females in the book. Morton does a great job of slowly unfolding the mystery of the Mountrachet family and adding the right amount of suspense to keep you hooked. It's like a modernized Pride and Prejudice meets the Da Vinci Code. With the granddaughter, Cassandra, acting as a sort of Robert Langdon trying to decipher Nell's secret past. The book does alternate every other chapter between the past and the present which takes a bit of getting used to but is a very effective way of storytelling in this case. I am a huge fan of period books because of the beautiful settings and grandeur of the past that isn't really present in books that take place in present day. There is a stark contrast given in the life of Eliza and her wealthy cousin Rose, as well as the contrast in their personalities.

I mentioned before that The Time Traveller's Wife was written in a very "Nicholas Spark-ish" manner- what I mean by that is that the writting style is very linear- what you read is what you get. Morton's writing style is somewhat different. Each word is chosen carefully for it's dual meaning- adding more depth in her storytelling. There is some reading in between the lines to really understand the characters. It's what reading is all about, in my opinion. The author also includes fairytales in the book- written by one of the main character's Eliza. These semi-autobiographical (to Eliza's life) fairytales are a real delight and add further depth to the storyline with their "lessons" learned. The main theme presented for each of the women is their loss of and search for family and sense of belonging. My main gripe is that the male characters are presented as afterthoughts.. don't expect any character development for any of them. A little dissappointing since getting to know the inner workings of the creepy uncle, Linus Mountrachet would have been entertaining.

Ofcourse this book is more geared towards women. It focuses too much on family and inner feelings to be enjoyable to most men I know. But if you are in the mood for a book that makes you think a little, envelopes you in the lives of English women in the Victorian era and a bit of scandal- then you will enjoy this book from the first chapter to it's bittersweet end.