welshy72

Kate Morton, winner of the Richard and Judy’s Summer Read 2007 with The House At Riverton, has written a fabulous book in The Forgotten Garden. It’s told in the third person narrative and set across two continents. Each chapter goes back and forth in time (1913, 1975 and 2005) depending on which character your reading about, either Nell, Cassandra or Eliza. I loved these 3 characters, they were all regarded as wonderfully strong women but each had suffered tradegy in their lives which made them stronger still. I enjoyed the other characters as well, even Mrs Swindell and her bad traits.

I was totally gripped by this book, the story is enchanting. It’s 645 pages long and I thought it might be too long for such a story but everything was unravelled brilliantly. Each chapter would give a fabulous cryptic clue as too what was coming next, just enough to guarantee you to want to turn the page. Near the end of the book, all the loose ends I was questioning are cleverly tied together.

I couldn’t put this book down, I was totally gripped by it. This book will definitely be on my Top 5 of 2010 list. I couldn’t find a fault with it. She captured the language perfectly within each timescale. I can’t wait to read her other works.

Highly recommended.