The Forgotten Garden - BOOKRING

by Kate Morton | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 9780330449601 Global Overview for this book
Registered by madmadge of Alderholt, Dorset United Kingdom on 6/1/2008
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
14 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by madmadge from Alderholt, Dorset United Kingdom on Sunday, June 1, 2008
New book bought in Asda at a knock down price!

I loved The House at Riverton so I hope this is as good.

Before her eyes the garden changed. Weeds and brambles, decades in the growing, receded. Leaves lifted from the ground, revealing paths and flowerbeds and a garden seat. Light was permitted entry once more.....

1913
On the eve of the First World War a little girl is found abandoned after a gruelling ocean voyage from England to Australia. All she can remember of the journey is that a mysterious woman she calls the Authoress had promised to look after her. Authoress has vanished without trace.

1975
Now an old lady, Nell travels to England to discover the truth about her parentage. Her quest leads her to Cornwall, and to a beautiful estate called Blackhurst Manor, which had been owned by the Mountrachet family. What has prompted Nell's journey after all these years?

2005
On Nell's deth her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into a surprise inheritance. Cliff Cottage, in the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, is notorious amongst the locals for the secrets it holds - secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is at Cliff Cottage, abandoned for years, and in its forgotten garden, that Cassandra will uncover the truth about the family and why the young Nell was abandoned all those decades before.

Journal Entry 2 by madmadge from Alderholt, Dorset United Kingdom on Saturday, June 28, 2008
An absolute 10! I enjoyed this book so much. Took it on holiday with me so it's a bit battered because I read most of it by the pool in a hotel in Tenerife. The story jumps from character to character, between two different countries and also between three different time periods so that sometimes it is a little difficult to figure out where exactly the action is taking place (or perhaps I was just suffering a little from heat stroke!). Nevetheless it is a gripping tale and I absolutely didn't guess the outcome at all.

Loved all the characters and the ending brought tears to my eyes - I finished it on the plane coming home yesterday. I sat and thought about it for a long while because I found it so moving.

A wonderful follow up to House at Riverton. Well done Kate Morton.

Journal Entry 3 by madmadge from Alderholt, Dorset United Kingdom on Tuesday, July 8, 2008
This is now going off on its journey -

1. Martjxox - Italy (EU posting)
2. madnad - Tenerife (EU posting)
3. LindyLouMac - Italy (EU posting)
4. Tsjara - Netherlands (EU posting)
5. kiki66 - Germany (Intnl posting)
6. Sidney1 - Germany (posting not specified
7. turnpages UK - (?)
8. Bookgeo - Finland (Intnl posting)
9. Llednyl - USA (US or Canada posting)
10. oi-reader - USA (post anywhere if required
11. LyzzyBee - UK (Intnl posting)
12. myrtillus (formerly onniManni) - Finland (post anywhere)<-----IT'S REACHED ITS FINAL DESTINATION!

Journal Entry 4 by Martjxox from Perugia, Umbria Italy on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
got it today, actually one moment ago! Will start reading it on this very same day!!!! Thank you!

Journal Entry 5 by Martjxox from Perugia, Umbria Italy on Friday, August 8, 2008
good novel, with some predictable ending... i love Morton's style and the story itself had a good twist! Thanks MadMadge!!!! The book is leaving to Tenerife on Monday.

Journal Entry 6 by Martjxox at -- via posta o passaggio a mano --, Umbria Italy on Thursday, August 14, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (8/11/2008 UTC) at -- via posta o passaggio a mano --, Umbria Italy

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

the book was brilliant! sorry it took me a lil'more than planned to read it... i already got one other book by the same author: she is a gifted writer, really!

Journal Entry 7 by madnad from Tenerife - Adeje, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spain on Thursday, August 14, 2008
Received the book with many thanks today! I'll do my best to read this asap but I do have a couple of other BC books to read first! (ha, I wish I'd met madmadge while she was in Tenerife - she could have given it to me personally I could have sent it to Martjxox instead:) Never mind...)

Journal Entry 8 by madnad from Tenerife - Adeje, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Spain on Sunday, August 24, 2008
Very good book, very easy to read and gripping story! I finished it over a course of 2 days, which shows that it was a good novel for me. At first I wasn't sure how I'd like the jumps from one era to the next but obviously without those the story would have not been the same. I agree with martjxox - the ending was somewhat predictable!

Journal Entry 9 by madnad at Viterbo, Lazio Italy on Friday, August 29, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (8/28/2008 UTC) at Viterbo, Lazio Italy

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

sent to LindaLouMac!

Journal Entry 10 by LindyLouMac from Tywyn, Wales United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Arrived today and already seems to have done a lot of travelling between the UK, Italy and Tenerife!
Have been looking forward to this one and in fact earlier today was reading a review a friend had posted. In fact she did not enjoy it as much as The House at Riverton, which I did very much.


Journal Entry 11 by LindyLouMac from Tywyn, Wales United Kingdom on Friday, September 12, 2008
I found this as engrossing as her debut which I read earlier this year. This time Kate Morton has written an intriguing mystery that started in the 1900’s and is not fully unravelled until 2005. It is told as three stories covering three generations combining to give us clues along the way.
Maybe the ending was a little predictable but I certainly did not guess all the answers to the mysteries along the way.
The protagonist is Nell around who the whole mystery centres. The story starts in London when Nell as a little girl finds herself unexpectedly travelling by ship to Australia alone. The lady she calls the Authoress having mysteriously disappeared instead of looking after her as promised. Arriving in Australia as an orphan she is given a home by Hugh a dock worker who finds her alone on the dockside on her arrival in Maryborough. It is only on her 21st birthday she learns of her mysterious arrival in Australia, a secret that changes her life dramatically.
It is many years later in 1975 that she embarks upon a search for the truth about her birth and early years. Drawn to Cornwall by information she has discovered, she finds herself buying a cottage in the grounds of Blackhurst Manor once owned by the Mountrachet family. She plans to return to England to live in her new cottage after sorting out her affairs back in Australia. However life intervened and Nell never returned to Cornwall, the ownership of the cottage remaining her secret.
On her death in 2005 Nell leaves the cottage as a surprise inheritance to her granddaughter Cassandra. It is while visiting her inheritance that Cassandra finally uncovers the secrets surrounding the Mountrachet family Linus, his wife Adeline, their daughter Rose and cousin Eliza, daughter of Linus’s sister Georgiana.
How are the family all involved in the disappearance of that little girl nearly a hundred years ago?
I am obviously not going to reveal this and spoil the mystery!

I think the author may be a fan of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett as not only does The Forgotten Garden remind me in some ways of this classic novel but its author makes an appearance in the story!
I read it far too quickly for a novel that is nearly 650 pages. Only took two days. Ok the weather was very hot and I did not feel like doing much else, but to be honest I could not put it down!!


Journal Entry 12 by LindyLouMac at By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (9/16/2008 UTC) at By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

En route to the next participant in the Netherlands.

Journal Entry 13 by Tsjara from Zaandam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Sunday, September 21, 2008
Arrived here safely yesterday. I think I'll start reading it later today, really look forward to it. Thanks!

Journal Entry 14 by Tsjara from Zaandam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on Wednesday, October 15, 2008
This is such a wonderful story, I really enjoyed it. At first I thought the jumps through time, place and persons was a bit confussing, but when you get into the story it works really well. It had some good twists, didn't guess it at all.
I loved the House at Riverton and this book didn't dissapoint at all (more the opposite). I look forward to her next book.

Note: The next participant on the list in the card (in the book) is turnpages, kiki66 comes after her. The list at the journal entry didn't have turnpages on it.

Journal Entry 15 by Tsjara at to fellow bookcrosser, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, October 19, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (10/18/2008 UTC) at to fellow bookcrosser, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to turnpages.

Journal Entry 16 by turnpages from Faversham, Kent United Kingdom on Friday, October 24, 2008
Thank you for sending the book, thank you for the ring. Just in time for half-term holiday!! Fantastic. Will read the books as quickly as I can to post off soon...

Journal Entry 17 by turnpages from Faversham, Kent United Kingdom on Friday, November 7, 2008
I had read The House at Riverton and was waiting eagerly for Kate Morton's next novel....
....and I have not been disappointed.
I felt it was a bit slow at the beginning, but once the mystery started to unfold I could not put the book down! I agree that the ending was somehow predictable, but I found that Kate Morton has paid great attention to detail to construct her solution to the mystery and therefore did not mind that there was no twist or turn...

I emailed the next reader and am now waiting for an address, hope to get it posted off soon.

Thank you for this RING!

Released 15 yrs ago (11/8/2008 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Travelling on to the next reader according to the card that is in the book. Thus it now travels to Germany!

Journal Entry 19 by wingkiki66wing from Gauting, Bayern Germany on Thursday, November 13, 2008
Arrived safe and sound here in Bavaria.
Will read it at once, there's no other ring here at the moment... very astonishing:-))

Edit: yep, I was a bit late to make any comment :-)
So here we go:

I just loved the book, it was an easy read and somewhat predictable but nonetheless I enjoyed the story!
My husband teased me for being glued to the book most evenings.. :-)

Funny coincidence - I have another book about a 'secret garden' where the main character is also called Nell :-) ('A peculiar chemistry' by Kitty Ray...)

gave it to sidney1 Friday, November 28th..

Journal Entry 20 by madmadge from Alderholt, Dorset United Kingdom on Friday, November 14, 2008
I've slightly altered the order of this Ring because kiki66 pointed out that Sidney1 also lives in Germany and she could pass the book straight on to her.

That's fine by me - I'm not sure how I came to organise the order in the first place. Probably due to posting preferences? Hope this doesn't upset anyone. :0)

NB: Posting this message on the JEs because I'm having problems with PMs! Hope you see it kiki66!

Journal Entry 21 by Sidney1 from München, Bayern Germany on Friday, November 28, 2008
Just picked the book up at Kiki66's house. Oops, I see she hasn't even had time to write a comment ...

Journal Entry 22 by Sidney1 from München, Bayern Germany on Saturday, January 17, 2009
I just loved this book. It is gripping, moving and thought provoking all in one. There are small weaknesses in the style: for example, the fairy tales don’t quite work as fairy tales, in my opinion, but they do make the authoress come alive. The three periods in time interweave cleverly, although Nell’s search in 1975 is the weakest, I find. Some of the descriptions of Eliza’s early life are very Dickens, a bit too exaggeratedly dark and gloomy. I feel sorry for poor Eliza, who had a pretty rotten life, always at the fringe of family life. And just as things are looking up, Henry Mansell appears. The book talks a lot about family and its importance for one’s own identity, and of the power that children have to make or break relationships. The affections of both Hugh and Lil and Nathanial and Rose grow strong again once they have their daughters. Particularly the women flourish when they finally turn into mothers. Both Hugh(in a way) and Cassandra lose a child and are devastated by it. Even Christian lost his mother as a child. The whole book is filled with loss and the different ways people cope with it. But there is always also a feeling of hope, of redemption.

Thank you madmadge for making me discover this author.
turnpages has her own copy by now, so I've sent the book to Bookgeo today.

Journal Entry 23 by wingBookgeowing from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Friday, January 23, 2009
The book has now arrived to Tampere, Finland. Many thanks for sending it, Sidney1. The postal services have seemingly been rough to the book, a part of the pages has loosened from the binding. I will start to read this very soon.

Journal Entry 24 by wingBookgeowing from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Monday, February 16, 2009
Oh, this was a lovely book! Very welcome to read this after many thrillers. This story has a beautiful magical feeling to it, all characters woke up to live in my mind and the book enfolded me deep into its mysteries. Morton writes very emotionally and still succeeds not to overstate anything, it all feels very pure and real. I liked the hopping between different time periods theme and loved the way how some liitle hints about the past or the future were first subtly given for the reader and later brought to full understanding. The ending brough tears also to my eyes.

I tried to glue the inside binding of the book to hold the loosened page parts better in place to make the book last the overseas posting it is going to experience next. I have Llednyl's address and will mail the book forward tomorrow. Many thanks for the ring!

Journal Entry 25 by Llednyl from Marysville, Ohio USA on Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Arrived in the mail today. Thanks, Bookgeo, for sending it all the way from Finland!

Journal Entry 26 by Llednyl from Marysville, Ohio USA on Thursday, March 26, 2009
Finished this morning! This was a long book, but I found it to be an easy, delightful read. It was just the sort of thing for me to read right now - engaging but not too heavy. College keeps me pretty busy and stressed out, so to read a book like this is a nice break. I enjoyed the story, although at times I thought Morton's writing to be lacking... it just didn't seem very original, and I did figure out the end pretty early. The obvious nod to The Secret Garden was a bit unexpected. As soon as Cassandra discovered the garden wall I saw the similarities between the stories (old garden that gets nursed back to life, invalid child, kindly gardener, sprightly female servant... the list goes on), and then the appearance of Mrs. Hodgson Burnett herself! I'm not sure what that had to do with the rest of the story, other than perhaps being a nod to Morton's inspirations? My favorite character by far was Eliza. I loved how she turned her experiences into fairy tales.

I have the next reader's address, but will be attempting a little repair before I send the book on. Sections of the book have come loose from the cover, but I should be able to glue them down again.

Journal Entry 27 by Llednyl at -- BookRing, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Friday, March 27, 2009

Released 15 yrs ago (3/27/2009 UTC) at -- BookRing, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent off to oi-reader today.

Journal Entry 28 by oi-reader from Toledo, Ohio USA on Monday, March 30, 2009
Arrived today along with another ring...just when I thought I was caught up. There are 2 ahead of it but will read soon. Thanks for sharing!

Journal Entry 29 by oi-reader from Toledo, Ohio USA on Saturday, April 25, 2009
Thank you for allowing me to participate!

This is the first Kate Morton I have read and now I want to pull her other one from my MTBR:) Very readable despite skipping between characters and eras. I figured out the "mystery" way before the end however, but I was drawn in so deep I had to finish it to make sure I was right.

I apologize for taking so long to read this, but the size of the book prevented me from sticking it in my bag to read "on the go". It was savored many evenings along with my pre-bed teas ;)

Off to LyzzyBee today!

Journal Entry 30 by oi-reader at -- Somewhere, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA on Saturday, April 25, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (4/25/2009 UTC) at -- Somewhere, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

on to the next participant

Journal Entry 31 by LyzzyBee from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Thursday, April 30, 2009
Received today - that was quick! I have a space in my "at home" reading schedule (as I am reading the Mitford Sisters letters *very carefully* in bed of an evening, so white and perfect is the binding) so should get on to this right away and have it finished soon. So many places it's been to! (and another little bit of Germany too, as it was delivered to my neighbours' house and they're German!)

Cheers for the ring and hi to previous readers, only a few of whom I know!

Journal Entry 32 by LyzzyBee from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Like everyone else, I read this pretty quickly when I got going with it. I did enjoy it although I guessed the plot pretty quickly. It isn't the most literary of works, and I think there were times when the author didn't know quite what genre she was writing in and got a bit carried away trying to cram all her research it. The "Secret Garden" parallels were a bit creepy; having read a biog of Frances Hodgson Burnett, she also started off poor, submitted stories to a magazine when young etc, so I thought Eliza was almost a portrait of her, then in strolls FHB herself... There were also a few oddities - Ruby's job would be either as curator or as tour guide and what was with creepy Linus, who was not really developed and was a tad stereotypical (damaged man with damaged limb...)

So - hm, I was struggling to put something down about this. Like her other book, The House At Riverton, I think it was trying to be something it wasn't, a little. Readable but a bit, tacky isn't the word, but not as good as it could have been. A bit Rosamund Pilcherish, nothing wrong with R.P. but sometimes one is left wanting a little more. Would make a GREAT holiday read though!

Thanks for including me in the ring and thanks previous readers for the repairs - it's still a readable copy! Will contact Myrtillus now and get it sent on.

Released 14 yrs ago (5/11/2009 UTC) at Controlled Release, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posting to the next reader today. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 34 by wingmyrtilluswing from Pori, Satakunta Finland on Friday, May 15, 2009
I found this waiting for me in the mailbox today. I plan to start reading it soon. Thank you all recyclers and especially madmadge for sharing the book!

Journal Entry 35 by wingmyrtilluswing at Pori, Satakunta Finland on Wednesday, July 10, 2019
I decided to read The Forgotten Garden in Finnish (Hylätty puutarha). So I'll send this forward to someone who has it on her whishlist.😊

Journal Entry 36 by wingmyrtilluswing at Pori, Satakunta Finland on Friday, July 12, 2019

Released 4 yrs ago (7/12/2019 UTC) at Pori, Satakunta Finland

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'll send this to Mecu.

Journal Entry 37 by wingMecuwing at Hämeenlinna, Kanta-Häme / Egentliga Tavastland Finland on Monday, July 15, 2019
Thanks a lot myrtillus for this wishlist book! What a delight to read all your journals and to see all the places it has been over the years!

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.