Tania's Book Review

The Forgotten Garden
by Kate Morton

I’ve read a lot of great books recently, and “The Forgotten Garden” was no exception. As the plot weaves in and out of five generations in England and Australia, a tangled family mystery is slowly revealed by accounts from several main characters throughout the early 1900s, the 1970s, and in 2005.

The book largely involves the character Nell’s wish to find out who her birth parents are and who she really is. As a 4-year-old she mysteriously appeared alone on a dock in Australia one day, having apparently sailed from England without any family and only a small suitcase containing a book of fairy tales in her possession. Although Nell was adopted by the young couple who found her, she doesn’t learn this secret until her 21st birthday. She spends the rest of her life unraveling a series of mysteries that will help uncover who she really is and why she was “given up.”

Upon Nell’s death, her granddaughter Cassandra discovers that Nell has left her a secret cottage in England, where she travels to continue the search for Nell’s true identity. While the story contains a lot of darkness and tragedy, it also explores the strength of family and love to overcome the worst that life can throw at you.

The verdict: 4 stars out of 5