Mira Saraf reviews The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton for IWI.
The Forgotten Garden is the story of Nell Andrews, a woman who was abandoned on a boat at the age of 4, with no memory of her past. Raised by a dock master and his wife, when she is told the truth about her past on her 21st birthday.
It haunts her, changes her and estranges her from her family. She decides to try to solve the mystery of her heritage: what is her connection to Blackhurst Manor, a mansion on the Cornish coast, and to the cursed Mountrachet family.
Years later her granddaughter Cassandra sets out to fill in the missing pieces. This journey is full of unexpected twists and turns, and changes Cassandra as it did her grandmother. The story flips between the early 1900s, the 1970s and 2005, which would be present day.
Incidentally, this is actually a book I bought back in 2013 and for some reason had forgotten about it (no pun intended!) till a few weeks back when I was picking a new read. I’m so glad I finally read it! It is a very satisfying mystery – so I would recommend it for any fans of the genre.
The Forgotten Garden. Image Credits Mira Saraf
Piece by piece, Morton unravels a thread, never revealing too much, but just enough to keep you hooked. The pacing is perfect, and it surprises you right up until the very last pages.
One of the unique things about this is its focus on female relationships: primarily mother-daughter relationships and the complexities that can mar such a bond or make it stronger, but also how women who are peers relate to each other.
There is the relationship between Rose Mountrachet and her mother Adeline, as well as with her cousin Eliza. There is Eliza’s relationship with her own mother, Nell’s with Lil, her adopted mother, her daughter Lesley and Cassandra.
This story covers the wide range of affections and nuances: unconditional love, petty jealousies, and disappointment at being let down. The characters are colourful and tangibly real.
The Forgotten Garden is also about the importance of heritage and one’s history: both individual and family. Nell is haunted without knowledge of hers, yet for Eliza, her return to Blackhurst, her mother’s home, is a nightmare. How we relate to our heritage and how important the past is – is a major theme. Cassandra struggles with her own ghosts.
Christian, a character who appears rather late in the story, muses that it might be better if we forgot our past since it burdens us. And in a way it does because the more we hold on, the more damage it can do. We see this most acutely in Nell’s case – the irony being that it is the lack of knowing her past that burdened her so. And yet, in Cassandra’s case, knowing where she came from, had a rather different effect – and you’ll need to read the book to find out what that is!
Although these are rather heavy themes, this is a fast and a relatively easy read. It’s a good one to recover from a very heavy story. I know it helped me!
Have you read any of Kate Morton’s books? Which is your favourite mystery author? Share your comments and feedback in the comment box below.
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