Lotus666
05-08-09, 01:56 PM
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A book that spans four generations, and uncovers long buried and shocking family secrets - this book is the first I've read by Kate Morton, but certainly won't be my last.
On the eve of WWI - a little girl is abandoned on a ship to Australia. Taken in by the kindly Wharf Master and his wife in Maryborough - she grows up secure in the love of her family. That is until the eve of Nell's 21st birthday, when her "Father" tells her that everything she thinks is real in her life is very far from it. She abandons everything to search for the truth of her identity - but is she losing something in the process? Nell ends up in Brisbane (Paddington, to be precise) and ends up looking after her grand-daughter, Cassandra.
Being set in Brisbane - my old hometown - gains it extra interest points there. Encompassing an old family estate in Cornwall, The Secret Garden unravels the mystery over 3 main phases of time. The story culminates with the Grand-daughter of Nell inheriting the property, and going over to the UK to sort/sell the cottage with a charming old, overgrown garden, which seems to have a life of its own.
The book is enchantingly written (with reference to an "Authoress" and her fairy tales, which play an integral role in the story), and for the last third of the book - I just could not put it down, so eager was I to find out the secret. I finished this up last night whilst TB was pulling an all-nighter with some recalcitrant machines, and I think I got to bed about 2am ish. :zzz:
Nixxi, if you've not read this one, I would thoroughly recommend that you do. Rating wise? This one really deserves more, but 10 out of 10 will just have to do. :)
It is fully deserving of the maximum ratings points. Kate Morton has written another book called "The House at Riverton", which I believe is equally compelling...and another from "Richard and Judy's Summer Reads List". I shall be out hunting the 2nd hand shops tomorrow for it!
A book that spans four generations, and uncovers long buried and shocking family secrets - this book is the first I've read by Kate Morton, but certainly won't be my last.
On the eve of WWI - a little girl is abandoned on a ship to Australia. Taken in by the kindly Wharf Master and his wife in Maryborough - she grows up secure in the love of her family. That is until the eve of Nell's 21st birthday, when her "Father" tells her that everything she thinks is real in her life is very far from it. She abandons everything to search for the truth of her identity - but is she losing something in the process? Nell ends up in Brisbane (Paddington, to be precise) and ends up looking after her grand-daughter, Cassandra.
Being set in Brisbane - my old hometown - gains it extra interest points there. Encompassing an old family estate in Cornwall, The Secret Garden unravels the mystery over 3 main phases of time. The story culminates with the Grand-daughter of Nell inheriting the property, and going over to the UK to sort/sell the cottage with a charming old, overgrown garden, which seems to have a life of its own.
The book is enchantingly written (with reference to an "Authoress" and her fairy tales, which play an integral role in the story), and for the last third of the book - I just could not put it down, so eager was I to find out the secret. I finished this up last night whilst TB was pulling an all-nighter with some recalcitrant machines, and I think I got to bed about 2am ish. :zzz:
Nixxi, if you've not read this one, I would thoroughly recommend that you do. Rating wise? This one really deserves more, but 10 out of 10 will just have to do. :)
It is fully deserving of the maximum ratings points. Kate Morton has written another book called "The House at Riverton", which I believe is equally compelling...and another from "Richard and Judy's Summer Reads List". I shall be out hunting the 2nd hand shops tomorrow for it!