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The Forgotten Garden

Kate Morton (Goodreads Author)

4.14 · Rating details · 207,941 ratings · 19,537 reviews

A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton.

Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has jus ...more

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Paperback, 648 pages

Published June 1st 2008 by Pan Books

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Average rating 4.14 ·

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· 207,941 ratings · 19,537 reviews

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May 22, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it did not like it

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, kat-s-book-reviews

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. *Kat looks at The Forgotten Garden*

*Kat looks at the beckoning stack of other books to read*

*Kat looks back at the first 33 pages of The Forgotten Garden*

*Kat groans*

So basically there's this woman. Let's call her Stupidhead because I couldn't care enough to remember her name. She finds out on her 21st birthday party that her loving, adoring family is not her biological family. They found her as a very small child and cared enough to take her in and give her a wonderful home full of people who l ...more

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Feb 07, 2016 James rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-favorite-books, 1-fiction

5 stars to Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden. The plot is mesmerizing and the story-telling of the grandmother and the granddaughter is unparalleled. Morton jumps from time period to time period, country to country, character to character in a flawless manner.

The imagery is astounding. The relationships are well planned. Morton keeps you guessing as to how it's all connected with the garden up front and center the whole way through the ride.

Thoroughly enjoyed the journey this book takes you o ...more

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Apr 11, 2010 Hannah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Hannah by: Carol Kerry-Green

Shelves: 2010-reads, houses-as-characters, gothics

Aussie author Kate Morton deftly managed to push nearly every one of my reading buttons with her lovely book, The Forgotten Garden:

1. Not so young woman with a haunted past - check
2. Not-so-fairy-Grandmother who bequeaths said woman an old house with a mysterious history - check
3. Said old, mysterious house is actually a cottage on the wild Cornish coast, complete with a hidden garden, a handsome neighbor, and the faintest suggestion of the supernatural - check
4. Said woman embarks on a quest to ...more

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Aug 07, 2009 Laura rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, best-seller

While this is ostensibly a novel of secrets spanning four generations, most of the “secrets” are fairly obvious. I kept waiting for the blow to fall — murder? incest? buried treasure?? Alas, no. The narration shifts among different-but-related storylines, all of which, to be fair, I found intriguing: in 1913 a child who can’t remember her name turns up on an Australian dock carrying a book of fairy tales; in 2005 her granddaughter tries to uncover the mysteries of a hidden garden in Cornwall; in While this is ostensibly a novel of secrets spanning four generations, most of the “secrets” are fairly obvious. I kept waiting for the blow to fall — murder? incest? buried treasure?? Alas, no. The narration shifts among different-but-related storylines, all of which, to be fair, I found intriguing: in 1913 a child who can’t remember her name turns up on an Australian dock carrying a book of fairy tales; in 2005 her granddaughter tries to uncover the mysteries of a hidden garden in Cornwall; in Victorian England a wealthy young woman flees her family . . . only to have her orphaned daughter found and taken back to them. In each case I wanted to find out the whole story, but I figured they’d tie together with more punch. Where were the dark secrets-within-a-secret? Where were the gasp-aloud revelations? I know we’re not always going to get Darth Vader breathing, “I am your father!” but a few big shockers would have been nice.

Maybe if the novel were presented a bit differently — as a family saga, not some mysterious tale — then I wouldn’t have been disappointed. It’s really a story of several women and the far-reaching effects their decisions have on their own and each other’s lives. Woven throughout are fairy tales by the mysterious Authoress; it's hard to miss their thematic, at times allegorical, significance. They connect the generations through themes of foundlings, sacrifice, and the dangers of wanting what you can’t have. If you like fairy tales, this would be a plus, but I could have done without them.

Kate Morton is a bit heavy-handed in her characterizations, and, as with The House at Riverton, there’s a bizarrely devoted sister-like relationship that involves extreme self-sacrifice in one of the parties and oblivious selfishness in the other. While many relationships are like this (for instance, I am self-sacrificing and my siblings are oblivious), they're not fun to read about. And with only one exception, the really nefarious characters — they’re like villains out of a Dickens novel but without the flair — sort of fade away. I wanted the satisfaction of seeing them fall off a cliff and get eaten by sharks, or be impaled on pointy fence railings, not just die lonely or disappear from the story. I would have liked less background description and more resolution.
...more

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Jun 12, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

God Bless A Milk Cow!

Once again, most of my friends on GR loved this book to death! I'm going to quit picking books my friends love to death!

I have had this book for a year or more. I got it from the used bookstore for $1.00. I love the cover, I loved the summary and I thought I would love the book. Now, don't get me wrong. I liked the book, it just didn't take me there, wherever it took everyone else. Actually, there are 2 or 3 friends that almost everything they love, I will only like or not ...more

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Mar 13, 2020 Dem rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

In the midst of chaos and mayhem there are always books and reading and for that I am eternally grateful.

I needed to escape this week and Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden was just what the Doctor ordered.

A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery.
A book to get lost in with lots of suspense and intrigue. It was set in several timeframes including the 1890s, early 1900s, 1975 and 2005 which could have been confusing ...more

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Aug 15, 2010 Kathy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: women, highly-recommend, mystery, england, favorite-covers, favorites

Sometimes when people keep recommending a book, you should listen and read that book. The Forgotten Garden is such a book. You finally read it and end up wondering why in the world you waited so long. Kate Morton provides the intricate layering of different times and places in a masterful manner, gifting the reader with a story that captures the imagination and heart completely. Nell, as the lost child, is the pivotal character around which all mysteries and actions revolve. A tale that begins i ...more

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May 16, 2018 Annemarie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-german, favorites

Oh, this was such a delight to read! I didn't think a story about a family mystery could be so entertaining throughout, while still staying realistic and not going too over the top.
Kate Morton just has the absolute best writing style for stories of this kind. She has a way of completely trapping you in the story she's telling, so that you lose yourself in it and just can't find a way out. And that's something highly positive! This is only the second book of hers I've read, but I'm already certai ...more

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Apr 07, 2010 Chelsea rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 2010

I read 549 pages and that was the reveal? Really?

God, I was bored. I only stuck it out because I figured the book had to be building up to something. And I suppose that technically, it was. Just not anything particularly interesting or worth waiting for. I get it, everyone in the book has mother/child abandonment issues.

I think this book really wanted to be The Thirteenth Tale, but didn't have the balls (if you pardon the inaccurate expression, what with how female-centric both titles are). Now ...more

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Feb 12, 2009 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone who enjoys reading gentler books

Shelves: review-gr, first-read-arc-giveaway

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is an easy read, and yet gave me room to pause as I stopped to think. I like books that let me do that without pounding me into a pulp on the way. I suspect the book might appeal more to women then men and it would be a good choice of several of the reading circles I know.

My only regret: that Eliza's book of fairy tales isn't a real book.

Things I like knowing before I buy a book: No profanity that I noticed. Respectful story-specific reference to sex. Emotiona ...more

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Feb 12, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, australia, historical-fiction

The Forgotten Garden is a multi-generational mystery that reveals itself bit by haunting bit, featuring three women:

- Eliza, born in the late 1800s, who is born into poverty in London. Eliza's mother was a young woman who had run away from her upper crust home, for reasons that become clear later in the story, but she is found and pulled back into her wealthy family's embrace (or maybe it's their tentacles).

- Nell, born in 1909, who is found sitting on her suitcase on an Australian ship dock in The Forgotten Garden is a multi-generational mystery that reveals itself bit by haunting bit, featuring three women:

- Eliza, born in the late 1800s, who is born into poverty in London. Eliza's mother was a young woman who had run away from her upper crust home, for reasons that become clear later in the story, but she is found and pulled back into her wealthy family's embrace (or maybe it's their tentacles).

- Nell, born in 1909, who is found sitting on her suitcase on an Australian ship dock in 1913, adamantly refusing to say where she came from or even what her name is. Eventually she begins searching for her roots in England.

- Cassandra, Nell's Australian granddaughter, who takes up the search in England after Nell dies.

The storyline skips back and forth in time and from person to person (and also tosses in a few other characters' POVs here and there for good measure, which might irk you if you prefer a more linear plotline with a single POV). But the concerns of these characters and the themes of this book - like identity, finding oneself, family connections, desires - are so closely tied together that I didn't feel confused once I got to know the characters.

Eliza is an author of mystical and sometimes dark fairy tales, with lovely sketched illustrations by another character. I really wanted to see these illustrations; I imagine them as something like an Arthur Rackham illustration:

description

Some of Eliza's stories find their way into the text of this book, and their symbolism and autobiographical qualities help to unravel the mystery of Eliza's life and how it connects to Nell's and Cassandra's. Toward the end I was able to guess the main mysteries of the book, but at least they didn't come out of left field.

There are some nasty and disturbed characters in this book and a few really ill-advised decisions made by characters who are otherwise likeable, so it's not all rainbows and unicorns here. In the end it's a bittersweet but hopeful story, and overall I enjoyed the book.
description

...more

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Nov 22, 2009 Barbara Mader rated it did not like it

***Added Later:

My summary of this book would have to be this: it is an oddly-plotted book about very stupid people written in lovely language.

But oh, the idiot characters. Honestly. Why would Nell be such a twitty jerk to her fiance and adoptive family? Why on earth would Eliza act as she did? Sorry; don't buy it.

-----------------------

Figured out what "happened" (the mystery of the little girl on the boat) earlier on and scanned much of the rest. Didn't find the characters' behavior believable. ...more

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Oct 13, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, fiction, 21th-century, australia, culture, literature, historical, adult, british

The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton

The Forgotten Garden is a 2008 novel written by Australian author Kate Morton, driven by the mystery of why a 4-year-old child is found abandoned on an Australian wharf in 1913.

At Nell's joyous 21st birthday party her world falls apart when her father tells her she was adopted as a 4-year-old in 1913, seemingly abandoned on an Australian wharf and unable to remember her name.

The knowledge shatters her self-image and changes the course of her life. In 1975, the The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton

The Forgotten Garden is a 2008 novel written by Australian author Kate Morton, driven by the mystery of why a 4-year-old child is found abandoned on an Australian wharf in 1913.

At Nell's joyous 21st birthday party her world falls apart when her father tells her she was adopted as a 4-year-old in 1913, seemingly abandoned on an Australian wharf and unable to remember her name.

The knowledge shatters her self-image and changes the course of her life. In 1975, the only surviving clues to Nell's past are given to her after her father's death; the memories they trigger lead her to travel to England to unravel the puzzle, part of which is connected to the author of a rare fairy tale book in her possession.

She discovers her true identity despite having been thought dead for more than 60 years, and finds her way to Tregenna, and Blackhurst Manor, on the coast of Cornwall.

However, her plans to complete the quest are interrupted when her granddaughter Cassandra comes to stay "temporarily," a stay that becomes permanent. In the end it is Cassandra, haunted by her own griefs, who in 2005 follows in Nell's footsteps to finish the journey of discovery and fit together all the missing pieces.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز چهاردهم ماه جولای سال 2015میلادی

عنوان: باغ فراموش‌ شده؛ نویسنده: کیت مورتون؛ مترجم الگا کیایی؛ تهران افق دور، ‏‫1393؛ در 681ص؛ شابک 9786006903187؛‬ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان استرالیایی - سده 21م

رمان «باغ فراموش شده»، داستانی دل انگیز، جذاب، و بسیار خواندنی، درباره ی گذشته، اسرار خانواده، و یادمانهاست؛ «کاساندرا»، تنها، غمگین و سردرگم است؛ مادربزرگ عزیزش «نل»، به تازگی درگذشته، و او که همچنان، از حادثه ی رانندگی تراژیک ده سال پیش، در شوک قرار دارد، حس میکند، همه ی چیزهای باارزش زندگیش را، از دست داده است؛ اما ارثی غیرمنتظره، و اسرارآمیز از سوی «نل»، زندگی «کاساندرا» را زیر و رو کرده، و تمام دانسته های او، از خود و خانواده اش را، به چالش میکشد؛ یک کتاب داستانهای افسانه ای تاریک و جذاب، نوشته ی «الیزا میکپیس (نویسنده ی دوره ی ویکتوریا که در اوایل سده ی بیستم میلادی به شکل رازآلودی ناپدید شد)»، به «کاساندرا» ارث رسیده است. او عزمش را جزم کرده، تا راه «نل» را، برای پیدا کردن حقیقت، درباره ی: تاریخ خانواده، و گذشته شان ادامه دهد. اما «کاساندرا» نمیداند، که در حال پا گذاشتن به مسیری است، که زندگی تازه ای برای خود او نیز، خواهد ساخت

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 24/03/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Arah-Lynda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, i-said

If you are looking for a good story to escape into for a while, look no further. The Forgotten Garden weaves a tangled tale of family secrets, kept hidden for generations. Kate Morton does an excellent job of creating mystery and intrigue that spans generations as one woman searches for her true identity and finds her family in an unexpected place along the way. Good Stuff!

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Sep 04, 2009 Karla rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: friendship, mystery, amnesia, english, magical-realism, australia, 2010, favorites, book-about-books

I became quite enchanted with this tale and really loved the interwoven bewitching dark fairy tales that added more dimensions to this novel. It was a mystery that had me second guessing myself several times. Every time I had it all figured out a new chink was added to the chain of clues. I think the style of writing was superbly done, not often can I say that. I loved the way each chapter transported me to another time and a different POV spanning the generation of women in the family. I did fi ...more

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Nov 04, 2014 Melindam rated it did not like it

Shelves: too-stupid-to-live-heroine, womens-fiction, books-everybody-loves-but-me, phony-and-self-indulgent-as-hell, meh, spectacular-letdown

Review summed up in 2 words: OVERBLOWN and UNDERWHELMING A perfect example of FAKE DRAMA.

description

To be fair, this is actually a beautifully written book and its voice is quite seductive, however, the incongruence of voice and story very soon becomes apparent and grating.

I know I was supposed to think that it was the clutches of cruel, inexorable FATE the characters were wriggling in without the hope of escape, instead of their own infinite STUPIDITY, which was so excruciating that I just wanted to bang ...more

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Jan 05, 2011 ruzmarì rated it it was amazing

I am breaking silence here to gush about Kate Morton. Her fiction is carefully researched and crafted, and the writing itself is luminous. The Forgotten Garden unwinds like a fairy tale, slowly curling off the spool where ambiguously benefic crones have wound it. We jump back and forth between present-day Australia where a young woman mourns the mysterious grandmother who inspired her as a child, to England at the turn of the last century where an affluent family in a small coastal town conspire I am breaking silence here to gush about Kate Morton. Her fiction is carefully researched and crafted, and the writing itself is luminous. The Forgotten Garden unwinds like a fairy tale, slowly curling off the spool where ambiguously benefic crones have wound it. We jump back and forth between present-day Australia where a young woman mourns the mysterious grandmother who inspired her as a child, to England at the turn of the last century where an affluent family in a small coastal town conspires to conceive, and then bury, a tremendous secret, one whose shock waves will reach forward across generations and oceans. At the heart of the England plot we find a friendship between two apparent opposites - one, the sheltered, sickly daughter of the rich family; one, the free-spirited adventurous tomboy - and a secret that rends them apart even as it knits them together. And at the heart of that, we find one of Morton's real strengths : her ability to capture the often bitter logic of human behavior, the ways in which trust and resentment weave together to form a hobbling grown-up-ed-ness rich with the sting of childhood betrayals.

Another of Morton's gifts is especially prevalent in this novel : her intense focus on writers and the imaginary worlds they sculpt from words, especially writers of children's stories. Children's stories, this novel knows, hold their own ancient wisdoms about responsibility, trust and betrayal, and their truths - while far from palatable - are far preferable to the gossamer fables adults tell each other and themselves to make life liveable. Morton alternates between narrative chapters about present-day Australia and early-twentieth-century England, punctuated with insertions of fairy tales from a magical book within the book. As the story unravels, the reader begins to see traces of the real-life narrative in the images and metaphors of the fairy stories. And, at the end of the novel, it is up to the reader to determine whether the reverse is not true, as well - the eruption of fairy-tale logic within the stolid cadre of real life.

I can't say much more about the plot without giving it away. It is a brilliantly structured and performed novel, one I could not put down (to clarify : I began the novel at the airport in Louisiana on my way to France. I finished it as the plane touched down in Paris. A perfect fit for the "life is too short, you can sleep when you're dead" school of thought). ...more

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Apr 16, 2016 Julie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, cultural, historical-fiction, historical-mystery

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton is a 2009 Atria publication.

I only recently discovered this author, having read her latest release, “The Lake House,” and loved it. Naturally, I wanted more!

The Forgotten Garden is just the type of novel I can lose myself in. I love family secrets within a historical setting that spans generations.

The story begins with a little girl found all alone in 1913, taken in by a couple desperate for children, raising her as their own, naming her “Nell”. Once Nell l The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton is a 2009 Atria publication.

I only recently discovered this author, having read her latest release, “The Lake House,” and loved it. Naturally, I wanted more!

The Forgotten Garden is just the type of novel I can lose myself in. I love family secrets within a historical setting that spans generations.

The story begins with a little girl found all alone in 1913, taken in by a couple desperate for children, raising her as their own, naming her “Nell”. Once Nell learns the truth, she is shattered by the revelations, and sabotages all the plans she has for the future. Years later, she is given a chance to learn more about her true heritage, but it wasn’t until her granddaughter inherits Nell’s estate, that the truth is slowly unearthed.

Kate Morton’s prose is mesmerizing, hypnotizing, and riveting. I enjoyed seeing the mystery unfold due to Cassandra’s persistence, and with the help of those just as eager to help her obtain answers her grandmother never had the chance to.

In some ways the tale is a sordid one, controversial even, with people making choices that affect generations of people. Some were selfish, some were selfless, and the results were often mixed. There are actually three stories here, woven together, carefully constructed to keep the reader in almost unbearable suspense, until all the shocking secrets of the forgotten garden are at last revealed, finally releasing the pain and heartbreak visited on so many, and opening up a new portal for peace and understanding.

While many areas of this story are depressing, and it could be argued that it’s a tragedy, it is also a kind a love story, and ends on such an uplifting note, I felt a huge sense of peace. I loved Eliza’s fairy tales and the way they paralleled real events, in the story. I could help but feel for Eliza, but admired her, too, however, I was often perplexed by Nell’s choices, but Cassandra is a gem and I think she will make sure the legacy of her true heritage is given the honor and respect it deserves.

4.5 stars
...more

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Dec 15, 2019 SimitudeSims rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019-book-club-books

This has a similar feel to it as the Lake House, but I like this ending better. It wasn't so convenient, if you get my drift. She can really keep you guessing. I thought I had it all figured out, then it shifts. It was very enjoyable to read. ...more

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Jan 12, 2017 Helene Jeppesen rated it it was ok

I know that this rating of mine is going to be highly unpopular because this specific book seems to have enchanted loads and loads of people. It has an average rating of 4.17 stars here in Goodreads, and while I was reading it people kept sharing their love for this book and this author.
"The Forgotten Garden" was my first book by Kate Morton, and I think it's going to be my last as well. That's because I have a feeling that once you've read one of her books, you know what her stories and her wr I know that this rating of mine is going to be highly unpopular because this specific book seems to have enchanted loads and loads of people. It has an average rating of 4.17 stars here in Goodreads, and while I was reading it people kept sharing their love for this book and this author.
"The Forgotten Garden" was my first book by Kate Morton, and I think it's going to be my last as well. That's because I have a feeling that once you've read one of her books, you know what her stories and her writing style is like. It's not bad at all, but it's reminiscent of so many other authors and books I've read which seem predictable and bland to me and don't really leave that much of an impression.
This novel is most definitely going to be one of those novels that will stay with me for some time to come, because thinking back on it there were some points of it and some characters that I appreciated and that made me continue reading. However, my actual reading of this book left me utterly bored throughout most of it, and I was tempted to give up at several moments.
The thing is that this is a 646-page book and it is structured in a way that makes you realize how it's all going to play out, right from the beginning. It's a mystery family novel going back and forth in time, leaving you with hints and bits of the whole story. Therefore, you know right from the beginning that you'll have to read all 600 pages before you get the full picture - and what's the excitement of that?
A lot of the characters were predictable and caricatured in my opinion. We have the loving granddaughter, the posh mother, the mysterious father, etc. Once again, the characters didn't provide me with much excitement. However, the thing that made me keep reading were two young girls whom we don't really encounter until halfway through the book. Those girls were enchanting, and the way their destinies interweave with well-known fairy tales was beautiful.
I know this might be a shock to a lot of people, but this was such a disappointment. While I do see why some people might find it captivating, I just wasn't one to share that opinion. ...more

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Jul 08, 2021 Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile rated it really liked it

This was a spectacularly written novel that transports you back and forth through time as you unravel a deep mystery with more questions than answers. The setting was beautiful and vivid and probably my favorite thing about the book. The times and characters got a little heavy at times, and I occasionally found myself having trouble remembering who was who, but it all came together in the end. I love the inclusion of the fairy tales, it really put you into the story and made you feel like part o ...more

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Nov 11, 2011 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Such a great book!!! I rate this 4.5 stars. A wonderful 'epic' journey with characters 'not' to be forgotten. Its a rich and satisfying engaging story.
Given the length of this book (500+ pages)---its amazing how easy it is to retain all the many details and every new character who gets introduced (must credit the writer).

This book just 'flows'. Its the type of book I would have loved to read in the winter --curled up on the couched on a few cold chilly days-- read 'non-stop'....(but I didn't hav ...more

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Dec 15, 2018 Jo (The Book Geek) rated it really liked it

Shelves: strong-female-protagonist, historical-fiction

This book, is my second Kate Morton novel, and I'm glad to say, that she has not left me disappointed. In fact, I ordered another of her novels online, immediately after finishing this one. Anyone that knows me well enough will know that I love mooching around beautiful stately homes and gardens which have a gothic appeal to them. That is also a reason I am a dedicated member of the National Trust. I can spend many, many happy hours at their sites just exploring the wonderful gardens and homes t ...more

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May 27, 2010 Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: five-star-fiction, europe-and-british-isles, miss-trees, all-fiction, the-land-down-under

I loved every page of this book, including the hokey stuff.
This is definitely comfort reading, but it's not chick lit and it's not oversimplified. It had enough plot complexity to keep my grown-up mind engaged. At the same time, it had enough enchantment and mystery to appeal to the little girl I once was. I was happy to discover that little girl is still in there, and she still believes in magical gardens and strange coincidences.

This is a long and lovely story about a woman who made the wrong ...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Megan rated it liked it

I feel a bit conflicted about what rating to give this book. On the one hand, I loved and devoured the last three hundred pages of this book. I found Cassandra, Nell, and Eliza to all be compelling characters and I grew attached to each of them individually. The writing is really beautiful, even poetic in parts, and I loved the weaving of Eliza's fairy tales throughout. I also really enjoyed the setup of the book, with the three women narrating and the way Morton wove everything together so nice ...more

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Mar 09, 2017 Rachael rated it it was ok

Oh for goodness sake.

I know I'm going against the grain here, as a lot of people rated this book so highly, but surely I can't be the only one so disappointed in it?

I usually love Kate Morton's books but this one just dragged and dragged whilst rehashing the same story. At first I thought it may be because I was listening to the audible version, but then remembered that I'd listened to 'The Distant Hours' too and had really enjoyed it.

The story hinted at deep, dark secrets, but there weren't rea ...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Ema rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: detective-crime, not-like-i-expected, australia, female-authors, read-in-2012

"The Forgotten Garden" was rather disappointing, as I was sure that I would love this book. Secrets, mystery, a hidden garden...these are ingredients that I love. Just not the most fortunate use for them in this plot.

For one thing, this book should have been half its length - so many and not particularly beautiful descriptions, detailed rendering of unimportant gestures and unnecessary talk. And the secrets were not really secrets, I could glimpse at several possibilities, one of which turned o ...more

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Sep 09, 2008 LindyLouMac rated it it was amazing

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6...

I found this as engrossing as her debut which I read earlier this year. This time Kate Morton has written an intriguing mystery that started in the 1900’s and is not fully unravelled until 2005. It is told as three stories covering three generations combining to give us clues along the way.
Maybe the ending was a little predictable but I certainly did not guess all the answers to the mysteries along the way.
The protagonist is Nell around who the whole myste http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6...

I found this as engrossing as her debut which I read earlier this year. This time Kate Morton has written an intriguing mystery that started in the 1900’s and is not fully unravelled until 2005. It is told as three stories covering three generations combining to give us clues along the way.
Maybe the ending was a little predictable but I certainly did not guess all the answers to the mysteries along the way.
The protagonist is Nell around who the whole mystery centres. The story starts in London when Nell as a little girl finds herself unexpectedly travelling by ship to Australia alone. The lady she calls the Authoress having mysteriously disappeared instead of looking after her as promised. Arriving in Australia as an orphan she is given a home by Hugh a dock worker who finds her alone on the dockside on her arrival in Maryborough. It is only on her 21st birthday she learns of her mysterious arrival in Australia, a secret that changes her life dramatically.
It is many years later in 1975 that she embarks upon a search for the truth about her birth and early years. Drawn to Cornwall by information she has discovered, she finds herself buying a cottage in the grounds of Blackhurst Manor once owned by the Mountrachet family. She plans to return to England to live in her new cottage after sorting out her affairs back in Australia. However life intervened and Nell never returned to Cornwall, the ownership of the cottage remaining her secret.
On her death in 2005 Nell leaves the cottage as a surprise inheritance to her granddaughter Cassandra. It is while visiting her inheritance that Cassandra finally uncovers the secrets surrounding the Mountrachet family Linus, his wife Adeline, their daughter Rose and cousin Eliza, daughter of Linus’s sister Georgiana.
How are the family all involved in the disappearance of that little girl nearly a hundred years ago?
I am obviously not going to reveal this and spoil the mystery!

I think the author may be a fan of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett as not only does The Forgotten Garden remind me in some ways of this classic novel but its author makes an appearance in the story!
I read it far too quickly for a novel that is nearly 650 pages. Only took two days. Ok the weather was very hot and I did not feel like doing much else, but to be honest I could not put it down!!
...more

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Sep 08, 2015 Kaya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars

“Memory is a cruel mistress with whom we all must learn to dance.”

It took me a while to fall in love with this book, but I did. I'm a sucker for stories where past and present intertwine, especially when suspense is on its high point. This book had the right twists, even though some of them were predictable, and it ended in a good place, without unnecessary prolonging.

A child is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. Nell, the lost child, is the pivotal character around all myste ...more

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Oct 13, 2016 KarenK2 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I love these kind of stories. This is a wonderful tale, intricately woven through generations of different voices. I love the way the saga gently unfolds revealing bits and pieces at a time.

5 star -- a must read

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Play Book Tag: The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton - 4 Stars	3	14	Feb 07, 2022 06:06PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Adult Historical Fiction. Woman orphaned as a child tries to uncover family mystery. Read around 2015. Spoilers ahead. [s]	3	29	Jul 23, 2021 01:23PM
Play Book Tag: ✈ The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton ★★★★	4	21	Feb 18, 2021 07:26PM
The Procrastinato...: The Forgotten Garden (June 2020) Buddy Read Discussion - Hannah & Melanie	12	24	Jun 25, 2020 01:19AM
The Merry Library: The Forgotten Garden	1	7	Jun 22, 2020 11:52AM
a loose end	1	20	May 10, 2020 05:29AM

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About Kate Morton

Kate Morton

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KATE MORTON grew up in the mountains of south-east Queensland and now lives with her family in London and Australia. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and harboured dreams of joining the Royal Shakespeare Company until she realised that it was words she loved more than performing. Kate still feels a pang of longing each time she goes to the theatre and the house lights dim.

"I ...more