The hugely accomplished second novel from quality commercial fiction's brightest new star, The Forgotten Garden does not disappoint Kate Morton's debut novel, The House at Riverton, was voted by Richard & Judy's viewers the Best Summer Read 2007 and has sold over half a million copies through Bookscan Highly commercial intelligent women's fiction - for fans of Sarah Waters, Daphne du Maurier and Kate Atkinson
Kate Morton grew up in the mountains of southeast Queensland, Australia. She has degrees in Dramatic Art and English Literature and is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. Kate lives with her husband and young son in Brisbane. The Forgotten Garden is her second novel. You can find more information about Kate and her books at www.katemorton.com.
This is the second novel by the Queensland author of The Shifting Fog. The book opens with a little girl abandoned on a ship to Australia. She is secretly taken in by a childless family and loved as their own. When her origins are revealed on the night of her 21st birthday, Nell O'Connor's life changes forever. Decades later during the 1970s, she searches for the truth by returning to England, leading her to the windswept Cornish coast, and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by an aristocratic family. The story hops between memories of England in the early 1900s and Brisbane between the 1930s and 2005. On Nell's death, her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance. Cliff Cottage and its forgotten garden are notorious among the Cornish locals for the secrets they hold-secrets about the doomed family and their ward, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales. It is here that secrets about the family are revealed, and the century-old mystery of a little girl lost is solved. It will be easy to recommend this immediately captivating and atmospheric story to readers of historic fiction, who also enjoy a well- plotted mystery along the way. Meredith Wright is the owner of Dalton's Books in Canberra, and has been a bookseller for over 25 years
Verdict: After her highly successful debut, The House at Riverton, Morton once again creates an intricate family puzzle spanning generations. From the Victorian era to the present day, Morton follows her striking characters in richly distinctive backgrounds. Strongly recommended for readers who enjoy intergenerational family sagas. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/08.] Background: A four-year-old is found abandoned on a dock in 1913 Australia. The port master and his wife take in the little mystery girl and raise her as their own child, now called Nell. After her adoptive father passes away leaving her a tiny trunk and a book of fairy tales, flashes of memory return to Nell, in particular that of the mysterious woman known to her as The Authoress. She returns to England to search for her true identity, but Nell's long quest is not completed until after her death, when her granddaughter Cassandra starts to uncover the dark secrets of the aristocratic Mountrachet family in Cornwall.-Joy St. John, Henderson Libs., NV Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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