Reading on my kindle, when the % read failed to work, this seemed like a very long book, and at 645 pages it is. An early Kate Morton, and while I have to quibble with some of the events and remarkable coincidences, by and large an intriguing triple timeline mystery.
In 1913, a Queensland port master finds a four-year-old girl sitting alone on the dock after a voyage from England. In 2005, her granddaughter goes in search of the rest of the story of who she is which the little girl – now much older – started in 1975. The main character, Cassandra, was the most real for me, although I loved Nell, my heart going out to her.
I’m beginning to think mine and Kate’s shared South Australian roots have given us something which is reflected in our themes. Homecoming, with its timeline and setting so close to Keepers (although an altogether different story); and now The Forgotten Garden with its themes of mysterious forebears and going back to your past to discover your future put me in mind towards the end of The Herbalist’s Daughters. And also my current book, The Gift of Belonging, which is very much about how the circumstances of birth, who our parents are, shape us for better or worse. Do you think I should let her know?? Very different stories but with similar themes of exploring the past and finding your future, and of mysterious parentages … Maybe I just wanted to be adopted. 😀
Find The Forgotten Garden here.
More reviews here and my monthly round up of what I’ve read here.