A wonderfully wise and beautifully written story about finding the courage to start over … I loved it!’ Isabelle Broom 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. But the Authoress has vanished without a trace. and experience goes into seed choice. We save as much of our own seed as possible, which means you can grow vast amounts, select colours and form and it has adapted to the conditions of the field and The jaded seaside town of Collaton is somewhere that many people have written off as just another rundown post-industrial town. But there are people who want to make a difference and if there’s one message I took from this book it is how people coming together can indeed make a difference.

The characters in The Forgotten Garden are fantastic. They are fully formed and impactful even if they are more minor like Kath, illustrating how interactions between us affect us often more than we can imagine. The major players like Luisa, Cas and Harper are so vividly drawn that I can’t stop thinking about them and wondering what is currently happening in their lives. I felt strong emotions about them all, because I was so invested in their lives. I would give this book a 10 if I could. Loved it...absolutely amazing....the writing is a masterpiece. The language and description is phenomenal and if you have an imagination like mine you will be able to picture the garden every step of the way and envisage how it changes as the story progresses. Yet I do treasure --- and share --- Morton’s passion for old-fashioned children’s literature and book illustration. In Eliza Makepeace’s tales, which have exactly the proper cadence and timelessness, this inspiration comes through splendidly. I just wish there had been more in THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN that emerged from that deeper place in Morton’s imagination. The charity garden project in the run down Cumbrian town of Collaton offers a much needed lifeline for more than one person in this small community. Luisa MacGregor is the landscape architect who has a vision for the garden but she can't take on this mammoth project alone and needs to rely on the goodwill of the townsfolk, some of whom are more enthusiastic than others however, with the help of local teacher Cas and troubled teenager Harper, Luisa begins to think that this dream could become a possibility.

Cassandra is in the current time and she has lived with her grandmother, Nell since she was little. Cassandra's mom wasn't a good woman. Nell, had a wonderful life until her father tells her a secret when she turned 21 (I think it was 21) and she got all mad and left everyone and dropped everything. Sigh. She got with some idiot and did a few idiot things and had an idiot daughter. BUT. If she hadn't done these things she would never have had Cassandra as a granddaughter and Cassandra was a good person. Along with the contrasting gloominess is the brought growth of a garden starting to flourish along with all the characters that Gosling has created.

Harper has had to become an adult way before her time. She has to care for her younger brother Max whilst her father is an alcohol fuelled daze most of the time and at the same time try and keep up with her studies. She loves anything to do with cars and engines and it’s easy to tell there is a bright future ahead of her in this area. Nothing is specifically said about Max but I could tell from the way he was written and how Harper acted with him that he was someone who did have something that made him need to adhere to strict routines and regulations. He harbours a little secret which when it does come to the fore proved to be very heart-warming and pivotal to the overall plot. Harper loves him dearly and does her best for him but it’s not easy trying to balance school and home life when the responsibility for everything lies solely at your door. She is under enormous pressure and this came across in her gruff manner but underneath it all you can see that she does have a heart of gold. If given the chance like the flowers in the garden she would grow and flourish and turn into a wonderful person. Then I didn't read on. I didn't read on because this book is based on an idiot, and I have a short fuse when it comes to idiots. Let's just say that I don't suffer them lightly. Cassandra learns so many things about Nell's past. It's not a simple one to find out but it's a pretty sad story none-the-less. There are a few different characters in the story, two prominent ones being Eliza and Rose. Like I said, it's a sad story.A lovely story with a strong plot. Young widow Luisa is a skilled landscape gardener, but tragedy has caused her to lose faith in her own talent and dreams. Now she has the chance to work on an ambition she and late husband Reuben long cherished – to build a community garden, from old factory land.

The Forgotten Garden is a 2008 novel written by Australian author Kate Morton, driven by the mystery of why a 4-year-old child is found abandoned on an Australian wharf in 1913. I think I actually enjoyed this more than "The house at Riverton". I felt that this one was smooth flowing, and there were many twists and turns that just totally took me by surprise.

Kate Morton

A book to get lost in with lots of suspense and intrigue. It was set in several timeframes including the 1890s, early 1900s, 1975 and 2005 which could have been confusing but worked really well for me in this story. A slow moving story with lots of characters but so beautifully plotted. I enjoyed unravelling the story and couldn't put this book down. It was a little predictable and I did figure out what was going on mid ways through the story it still held my attention and didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the book.

A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family, a love denied, and a mystery. The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton. How are the family all involved in the disappearance of that little girl nearly a hundred years ago? Only one woman in the bunch could feel life solid and worthwhile without a man or child or both, but no one was happy even if got what they wanted or thought they wanted. 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. When Luisa's borrowed car gets a puncture in the gloom, it is Cas and 17-year-old Harper, a bright lass with an attitude, come to her rescue. Well, it is Harper who, with a skill for all things mechanical, gets to change the tyre.With a romance that gently simmers, a plot that flows as fast as the North Sea tides, and some gentle reminders of the need to protect our oceans, The House Beneath the Cliffs provides the perfect holiday getaway' Lancashire Post The project is beset by problems, not least from untrusting locals. But with the help of local gym teacher and youth community leader, Cal, Luisa gets the garden off the ground. And as she tends the new shoots in the garden, something blossoms in her own heart. Could it be time for her to let love take root in her heart once more? This is not to say that THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN will shiver your bones. It’s much more benign than that. Still, there is a mystery at its heart: Why was a four-year-old girl apparently abandoned by her parents in 1913 and left alone on a ship bound from London to Australia? While paying homage to Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden and the Gothic novel, Morton's second work explores living with and overcoming loss - of trust, of identity, or of loved ones - and was inspired by Morton's own family history. I usually don't re-read books, but I would re-read this just to be sure I "got" all the facts straight...it was just fantastic....the story was very clever and the characters unforgettable....I didn't want the book to end.