Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

As a young girl, Nell was abandoned on a ship destined for Australia and was taken to the dock master once the ship docked. whom takes her in and raises her as his own.  Nell arrived with nothing but a suitcase and a book of fairy tales.  When she turned 21 the dock master and his wife revealed the truth to Nell.  She then travels to England to find out the truth about her past, and who she really is.  Nell's journey leads her to Blackhurst Manor.  After she passes away Nell's granddaughter Cassandra picks up the quest and begins to unlock the secrets of the forgotten garden and the book of fairy tales.

I instantly fell in love with this novel.  This is one of the reasons why I do not limit myself to a genre, if I had I would have miss out on a gem of a book.  I read this as a part of a book club, and as I said, I fell in love with Kate Morton.  Her writing is beautifully elegant.  The story she weaves has mystery, romance, and intrigue, everything I love in a good book.  It was difficult to put it down, and I lent it to my best friend to read.  It is a lengthy read, but you wouldn't know it is a couple hundred pages long until you have finished the book. 

Her characters a finely drawn and reveal elements of sophistication and grace.  The male characters ad whimsy and don't overshadow the female characters as you might find in many novels.  Readers watch as the story intermingles love, life, anger, and betrayal into the women's lives.  The book does which perspective between the years, but the focus is on the years 1913, 1975, 2005.  That can get difficult, but after a while you get used to it.  I think that the changes in perspective gives the story and in depth quality.  It adds to the understanding of how characters get to the points in their lives that they are.  We learn of where Nell has been and how she grew up to be the woman Cassandra loves and bonds with and why the quest becomes so important.

Forgotten Garden is a wonderful book and got me to purchase another on of Kate Morton's books Secret Keeper which is sitting on my to read list.  I would give this novel a 3.5 out of 5 because the changes in perspective does make it a little difficult to get wrapped up into the story.