The Forgotten Garden in Retro Chapter Chicks

Jun 12, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

God Bless A Milk Cow!

Once again, most of my friends on GR loved this book to death! I'm going to quit picking books my friends love to death!

I have had this book for a year or more. I got it from the used bookstore for $1.00. I love the cover, I loved the summary and I thought I would love the book. Now, don't get me wrong. I liked the book, it just didn't take me there, wherever it took everyone else. Actually, there are 2 or 3 friends that almost everything they love, I will only like or not ...more

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May 16, 2016 debbicat *made of stardust* rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-read, 2016-reads, new-york, bookclub, read-more-than-once, new

Highly enjoyable. I did not expect to like this so much! It's a beautiful, well written story I became fully engaged in. I loved the characters, setting, everything about it. I can see myself reading this again in a year or two. There is sadness, tragedy, joy, and triumph. All the great elements of good literature. It's mainly about 3 strong women and the choices they live and die by. This is not a great review. I just felt so much reading this book, I can't really get my thoughts together well ...more

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Jul 02, 2018 Book Concierge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: concierge, strong-women, library, australia, england, historical-fiction, mystery, audio, fairy-tale

Audiobook performed by Caroline Lee.

In 1913 a little girl, only 4-years-old, is found alone on the wharf in Australia. She’s taken in by the portmaster and his wife, who are childless, and when no one comes to claim her they keep her and raise her as their own. Decades later her granddaughter tries to unravel the mystery of her grandmother’s origins.

What a magical story. The action moves back and forth in time, from the late 1800s to 1913 to 1975 to 2005. The four women central to the story ar ...more

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Apr 15, 2010 Tasha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

Reread this and enjoyed it pretty much as I did the first time around. Ending (view spoiler) ...more

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May 29, 2024 Theresa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: england, historicals-mystery-and-romance, coming-of-age, ghost-story, immigrant-experience, contemporary-mystery, dragons-spotted-in-the-wild, art-as-subject-background-theme, friends-recommended, buddy-reads

A young child is left on a ship in London bound for Australia by a woman she calls the Authoress. The girl is told that she is to stay there until she returns, and that she is not to tell anyone her name, it's a secret. They are playing a game. The child agrees and settles into hiding with her small children's sized suitcase that contains a few items, including a beautifully illustrated book of fairytales. However the Authoress never comes back. The girl ends up traveling all alone to Brisbane. A young child is left on a ship in London bound for Australia by a woman she calls the Authoress. The girl is told that she is to stay there until she returns, and that she is not to tell anyone her name, it's a secret. They are playing a game. The child agrees and settles into hiding with her small children's sized suitcase that contains a few items, including a beautifully illustrated book of fairytales. However the Authoress never comes back. The girl ends up traveling all alone to Brisbane. where the dockmaster takes her into his home and, when no one comes looking for her, he and his wife treat her as their daughter, naming her Nell. Only, as a young adult she finds out she's not their daughter and the odd circumstances of her arrival in their home. Eventually, when she's an old woman, she starts investigating her history, going to England where she's eventually led to the Montrachet family in Cornwell, and a cottage on a cliff with a secret walled garden. While Nell only partly discovers who she is and her ancestry and the events that led to her making her way alone as a child to Australia, her granddaughter does eventually put all the pieces together while finding her own path forward from personal loss.

The author flops between time periods and various viewpoints from late 19th Century to 2005, often using them as a form of character flashback to fill in some part of the story. Frankly, I found them often confusing, and one would pop up just as I was vested in something just revealed in a different time period. Fortunately the chapters were generally quite short and mostly these time jumps filled in what had just been revealed or laid the foundation for another revelation. Still felt unnecessarily busy for me. There were also of course various plot points and character motivations that had me rolling my eyes. For sure the first hurdle to get over was the idea of a 4 year old making it to Australia - a trip of several months - in 1913 all by herself.

On the other hand, this is a very engrossing story of family secrets in multiple generations, social ambitions and distinctions, morality, survival and, best of all, storytelling. Eliza, who I consider the primary main character, is a born storyteller, and it's her book of fairytales for boys and girls that leads Nell and Nell's granddaughter to reveal the secrets of Nell's past and the family history. In fact we meet a couple of storytellers in the book. I particularly liked how the author included some of the actual fairytales. She also incorporated letters and diary entries, all reflecting the voice of the character who wrote them.

The setting, particularly the Montrachet estate called Blackhurst (and with that name don't we just know this will be a rather gothic tale!), with its lawns, gardens, and bramble maze, it's history of smuggling, private cove, caves, and especially the little hidden stone cottage and its secret garden, all are key not just to atmosphere, but to the plot and the characters evolution. (view spoiler)

Oh and of course, the author does have Frances Hodgson Burnett make a cameo appearance around 1909 I believe, just in time to be inspired to write a certain book.

I did find that while I enjoyed the book a great deal as I read, I didn't necessarily feel compelled to pick it up again right away, at least not until past the half-way mark. I had trouble with some character believing in their actions or motivations. A few characters felt like caricatures. There were also so much wrong with the Montrachet family, there was too much and not all was explored after being introduced into the plot. (view spoiler) Ultimately I give this a 3.5 star rating, rounded up to 4 stars.

...more

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Apr 13, 2024 Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, teaspring2024challenge

A young girl, Nell, arrives alone on a ship traversing many miles from England to Australia. She was raised by a young couple who could not have children. When her father passes away, the older Nell learns that she is adopted, and the only belongings she has are a white suitcase and a book of fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace. Determined to find her family roots, Nell travels to England to reveal the mystery of her origins and why she set sail alone to Australia. When Nell returns to Austral ...more

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Aug 10, 2009 Phair rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, dual-timeline

Nice complex family mystery covering several generations and all manner of secrets. Good period atmosphere in the Edwardian and 1930s portions and pleasant modern day action as well. Similar in feel to The Thirteenth Tale by Setterfield but not quite as outstanding in the language. Not all questions were answered to my satisfaction and there were some unlikely coincidences but I enjoyed the Cornish setting and the overall ambiance.

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