Decades later, Nell is told the mysterious circumstances in which she is found, and seeks the truth.
After Nell's death, her granddaughter, Cassandra, finds that her enigmatic grandmother has bequeathed her a cottage in England. Resolved to make light of her grandmother's hidden past, she goes to England and discovers an extraordinary past.
The Forgotten Garden is both sweeping in scope and precious with detail. Kate Morton handles each time period with generous description and setting, and character painting in drips and drabs so the mystery of each character fits in with solving the mystery of the whole novel itself.
The stories of each are bittersweet, endings resolved but not in a cliche happily ever after matter, necessarily. The problem, as it can sometimes be, of identity is brought to the fore here, particularly in Nell's story - what do you do after thinking your origins one way for twenty one years, only to have them pulled out from under your feet? Slowly but surely, Cassandra pieces together the clues to her grandmother's past and her journey of discovery and, in doing so, finds resolution herself.
This is a novel to be absorbed by, perfect for curling up on the sofa with a blanket, a cup of tea, and a few hours in which to escape.
The stories of each are bittersweet, endings resolved but not in a cliche happily ever after matter, necessarily. The problem, as it can sometimes be, of identity is brought to the fore here, particularly in Nell's story - what do you do after thinking your origins one way for twenty one years, only to have them pulled out from under your feet? Slowly but surely, Cassandra pieces together the clues to her grandmother's past and her journey of discovery and, in doing so, finds resolution herself.
This is a novel to be absorbed by, perfect for curling up on the sofa with a blanket, a cup of tea, and a few hours in which to escape.
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