This isn’t really related to the book, but for some reason, I keep getting Kate Morton mixed up with Kate Mosse and that this book is by the same author as Labyrinth (which I thought I had read but apparently not). But anyway, I have learnt my lesson and given how much I enjoyed The Forgotten Garden, I don’t think I’ll definitely remember who Kate Morton is!

The Forgotten Garden is a complex novel spanning a century. In 2005, Cassandra is grieving the loss of her grandmother Nell, and unexpectedly receives an inheritance – a house in England and a book of fairytales by Eliza Makepeace. She leaves Australia and heads to England to find out more about her mysterious grandmother. In 1975, Nell is on the same trip, but this time to find out who she is and to discover the memories that she lost. In the early 1900s, after the tragic loss of her family, Eliza Makepeace is brought to live with distant relatives and meets her sickly cousin, Rose.

As you can tell, there are a lot of characters in this story. But luckily, the three storylines quickly become two main storylines: Cassandra’s search for the truth about Nell, and Eliza’s story and the stories that she tells. It’s pretty obvious how the two stories are related but what I did not expect were the twists and turns that the story took! I thought I knew where the story was going but I was wrong, twice.

Apart from a surprising plot, I also really liked the characters in this book! Cassandra had unexpected depths – I thought she was just going to be the person that ends up telling Nell’s story (because I tend to prefer the story set in the past when it comes to dual-timeline novels) but I was wrong. I also found Eliza and Rose to be interesting characters – Eliza was slightly more well-rounded but Rose was intriguing as well.

Apart from the fairytales, which I adored for their magical yet dark tone and which were sprinkled throughout the book, there are also references to other childhood favourites. There is an homage to The Secret Garden and Five Go to Smuggler’s Top is mentioned in the book as well! Since I just read a biography of Enid Blyton, the Blyton reference was a nice surprise.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It’s 800 pages on my kobo, which is pretty long compared to the other books I’ve been reading but I was hooked by the story and the characters and enjoyed every word. If you like expansive, family-centered stories with a hint of the magical, you’ll enjoy this book.