THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN

THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN by Kate Morton was read for the Chunkster Reading Challenge 2011.

From the back of the book:

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913.  She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book - a beautiful volume of fairy tales.  She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own.  On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity.  Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family.  But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled.  A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.

I absolutely LOVED this book.  The story moves from the early days of Rose and Eliza of the Mountrachet family to many years later when Nell is searching for the truth, then moves again to the present day as Cassandra takes up the quest.  The different times come together, sometimes in the same chapters, but it is never confusing. I was able to figure out who Nell really was, but not before being led in many different directions.  The ending of the story brought it around full-circle.  And everything tied in to the book of fairy tales.

I had read Ms. Morton's earlier book, THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON, last year.  I liked that book, but felt this one was so much better.  I'm looking forward to reading her newest book, THE DISTANT HOURS, when it's released later this year.