"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 very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace 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. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go."
That is the description on the back of the book. When first given this book by my friend Harmony I wasn't sure at all if it was something I'd be into but since we are going to visit her next month I knew I had to read it so I could return the book. I read this particular book in 1.5 days (it's 549 pages). Not only did it capture my attention and keep me interested it kept me guessing. Every time I turned around I thought I knew what would happen and then something would emerge in the story line and make my theory change.
At first it was difficult keeping track of the various characters in the various times but eventually I straightened it out in my head and looked forward to what each of them had to say. Nell, the 'little girl lost', was the crotchety old woman with a past. You think you understand her and then you realize you don't. Cassandra, the devoted granddaughter, has had some things happen that she is trying to overcome but she doesn't realize the healing process of the journey until much later. Eliza and Rose are polar opposites. You think you know how they are connected and in a sense you do but then suddenly you don't. You find yourself connecting emotionally with each of the characters, mourning with them, loving them, being their cheerleader, and then in the end missing them when the story is complete. The Forgotten Garden really does spin such an amazing tale that you want the end to be different although you know how it ends in the first pages. It's sad but you are given a sense of hope. Not only for the characters but for yourself. This book inspires its readers to learn about the hidden story behind each and every one of us.
Not all of us will have characters in our family tree as colorful, adventurous or courageous as those in this novel but you never know. Perhaps you have an Eliza, a Rose, or even a Nell. Perhaps your ancestors were slave owners or pirates, royalty or czars, paupers or gold diggers. I think now it's time we each take a lesson and search our own personal histories for the 'novels' that created us. I'm grateful to Harmony for passing this book my way, although she will get her copy back I will soon have my very own copy that I can re-read again and again. I highly doubt that the story will lose its fascination or grip with another reading. In fact, I think that it will continue to inspire and encourage me to keep going. To look at everyone I meet as a person with a past much more interesting than what appears on thier cover.
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