This is my first book from Susanna Kearsley and realized that I am, once again, behind the power curve. Kearsley is an award winning author and THE ROSE GARDEN will contribute more accolades to her resume.

I requested to review THE ROSE GARDEN based on its setting in Cornwall. I grew up visiting my English Granny in Devon and enjoyed the opportunity to explore Cornwall. Kearsley chose well as Cornwall is the perfect setting for a time travel. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Eva and her sister, Katrina, were orphans. As Katrina became a film star, Eva moved to LA to be near her only relative. When Katrina passes away, Eva returns her ashes to Cornwall, where they spent their summers visiting family friends, the Halletts. The Halletts welcome Evan back into their home even as they struggle to maintain their rose gardens (and family livelihood). As Eva finds comfort in the familiar surroundings on the Cornish coast, she finds her herself traveling through a portal and falling in love in a different time.

I found myself clinging to each page as Kearsley transported me to the Cornish coast of my own childhood. I could smell the roses in the garden, hear the draft filtering through the old house, and feel the warmth of the Halletts’ hospitality. Kearsley’s book is aptly named as it offer the same emotional experience of walking through a rose garden – the visual connection to something familiar (returning home), a weariness of their thorny undergrowth (sharing grief), the appreciation of tedious work (friends’ support) to produce a flower of unique beauty (finding love).

The transition to and from the past was seamless as Eva comes to find that she is not alone after all.

I received an ARC from Sourcebooks for this review.