The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton, introduces us to a little girl who is left alone on a ship sailing from London to Australia in 1913, sent with nothing but a small suitcase containing a new dress and a book of fairy tales. She is taken home by the dock master and his wife and, unable to learn of any family, is raised as one of their own. On her 21st birthday, "Nell" learns the truth and her sense of identity is shattered. She begins a quest to discover who she is: where did she come from? Why was she abandoned? Who is her family? Nell is lead to the Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and begins to uncover the secrets of the Mountrachet family. Unable to solve the mystery in her lifetime, the search is continued after Nell's death by her granddaughter Cassandra, who is finally able to put all the pieces together.
It has been a long time since I've read a book that is as intelligently crafted as this one. Each chapter contains vital information to the story. To make it even more complex, the chapters are not chronological and are pieced together in the way only a truly gifted storyteller can. The mystery unfolds for the reader gradually by following 3 primary storylines: Nell--abandoned in 1913 and sets off to England in 1975 to find her history; Cassandra--granddaughter who picks up the mystery after Nell dies in 2005; and Eliza Makepeace and Rose Mountrachet--cousins in the late 1890s whose stories hold all the information Nell needs to find out who she is.
I found the characters to be richly detailed and authentic, each with a vibrant personality and voice.
-I loved Cassandra and her personal journey to not only discover her grandmother's past, but to find peace and healing for things that had happened in her past.
-I also loved Eliza; she was an incredibly strong and imaginative individual, the kind of person I would be lucky to be friends with. Though she was also kind of an idiot when it came to those she loved, allowing her affection to blind her to the behavior and feelings of others and getting hurt in the process.
- I like Nell and understand her need to know her past, but I was mad at her when she tossed her adoptive parents and siblings aside when she learned she was abandoned as a child. She became so focused on what she had lost that she was completely blind to all that she had.
-At the beginning of the book I liked Rose well enough but by the end I despised her. She used the people closest to her to get what she wanted. Manipulative and cruel and the worst kind of selfish.
-Though I suppose Rose gets is from her mother, Adeline, who is essentially the reason why there is any mystery story at all. Adeline came from humble beginnings and is obsessed with fitting into society and being a proper lady. This results in an irrational need to cover up anything that might cause the slightest scandal. Her perceived inferiority makes her spiteful and bitter and makes life extremely difficult for those around her, particularly Eliza.
-There aren't as many male characters. Linus, Adeline's husband, is a total creeper and I'm glad there weren't too many details about his incestic obsessions.
-Christian is the only truly respectable central male character and becomes the love interest for Cassandra. Woohoo!
I feel like I could write a pretty thorough essay on the characters and themes of this book. I won't, for all your sakes, but I could. It's that great of a story. I tend to read books that I can breeze through in a few days so I had to remind myself to be patient and allow myself to get truly invested in the characters and the delicious mystery. I absolutely, whole-heartedly recommend The Forgotten Garden! It took a few more chapters than normal to get hooked because of all the year/character jumping, but I got there and I know you'll love this book too.
5 out of 5 stars!
