The Forgotten Garden

Product Information

Cassandra is in the current time and she has lived with her grandmother, Nell since she was little. Cassandra's mom wasn't a good woman.

I enjoyed escaping into this book and found myself wrapped up in the story, feeling the highs and lows experienced by Luisa, Harper and Cas. Usually I have a favourite character in a book but all three main characters felt real and interesting. I think 'maybe' the only part of the book (for me) where the writer (or editing) might have made a correction is towards the end. (not the content) --The story line was perfect ---but the writing began to feel rushed -- (yet it 'was' time to end it) --

More from The Author

On the eve of the First World War, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her – but the Authoress has disappeared without a trace. A terrible secret A compelling read with a dramatic sense of place and a caring community at its heart' Heidi Swain, author of A Taste of Home Briefly, given a plot of land in Collaton on the north-west coast of Cumbria, and using the insurance money she received when her husband died, Luisa sets to work building a community garden. Teacher Cas who runs a local boxing gym is first to help, along with Harper, a teenager full of attitude who has a difficult life coping with a father who is a drunk and a brother Max, who she loves dearly and who is clearly on the Spectrum. Soon the local community get involved and the garden starts to take shape. Yet I do treasure --- and share --- Morton’s passion for old-fashioned children’s literature and book illustration. In Eliza Makepeace’s tales, which have exactly the proper cadence and timelessness, this inspiration comes through splendidly. I just wish there had been more in THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN that emerged from that deeper place in Morton’s imagination. Kirkus describes this novel as "weighty" and "at times unwieldy." The plot is described as "intricate" with "intersecting narratives" and "heavy-handed fairy-tale symbolism." [1]

There are some lovely descriptions in this, especially of plants and gardening - which I always enjoy in fiction. And I think she writes 'community' really nicely - as in her previous novel, The Lighthouse Bookshop, it is indeed 'the friendships we made along the way' that are important in everyone's journeys in The Forgotten Garden. (The title made me think it would be about the rediscovering of an existing garden, btw, and it totally isn't, but whatever.) I would give this book a 10 if I could. Loved it...absolutely amazing....the writing is a masterpiece. quality cut flowers and garden produce. We are seasonal, usually, our produce is available from March through to mid October.We can with the use of polytunnels, bring some flowers on earlier and Why do so many stories about women have all this jealousy and the world view that there is one pie and if one woman gets a piece (happy life) some other woman will therefore lose out? Found this annoying.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.

Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra’s life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.

The characters in The Forgotten Garden are fantastic. They are fully formed and impactful even if they are more minor like Kath, illustrating how interactions between us affect us often more than we can imagine. The major players like Luisa, Cas and Harper are so vividly drawn that I can’t stop thinking about them and wondering what is currently happening in their lives. I felt strong emotions about them all, because I was so invested in their lives. Morton excels at creating absorbing mystery. This tale, like the maze in the garden of the title, is a fine place to lose yourself.’ — People (****) While paying homage to Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden and the Gothic novel, Morton's second work explores living with and overcoming loss - of trust, of identity, or of loved ones - and was inspired by Morton's own family history.