The Forgotten Garden pulls together the threads of a story that started at the turn of the 20th century and ends almost 100 years after. As a reader, you are given clues through story telling that switches back and forth in time as Cassandra tries to piece together a story thirty years after her grandmother stopped looking. I loved the wide range of time periods involved in the book. You get to experience the very harsh life that was the reality for an orphan in Victorian England as well as modern day Australia. I was afraid that the jumping back and forth in time might become confusing or tiresome, but it added to the story and kept you guessing when you thought you figured everything out.
My real love of the book came from the characters. Since you are the reader, you get to know all of the characters in their respective times. I grew very attached to all of them and I loved being able to see the way their stories fit together. Their real connection was that of loss. All of the wonderful women in this book, even the villains, were trapped either by the societal norms of the day or their own tragic losses. It made the story come to life and even though I loved the ending, I really wish the book had gone on much longer.
This book earned 5 birds.
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Ooh, this sounds like a good read! I’m adding it to my TBR pile.
My book club read this a month or so ago, and it was one of my favorites. Great book!
The Absent Game…
Concerning me and my husband we have owned much more MP3 gamers over time than I can count, like Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few years I’ve settled down to one line of gamers….