I read this for my online Australian literature reading group (it was the "light fiction" choice for this month). I was looking forward to it - I was promised a "Great Read" by a lurid gold sticker from The Women's Weekly plastered on the front cover - but overall it just annoyed me.

The main plot involves Nell, a little girl discovered on the wharf in Queensland after disembarking from a passenger ship in the 1920s. Nell can't remember her name or her family and no one comes forward to claim her, so the wharf master and his wife adopt her. On her 21st birthday, Nell is told the real story of her life, and it sends her into a spiral, changing her life forever. In the parallel plot, Nell's granddaughter, Cassandra, is dealing with the Nell's death and is finding out about Nell's origin as well. Then there is a further parallel plot with Nell's parents. (Confused yet? We were!) And then there are fairy tales dotted throughout the book, paralleling the action.

The main characters however were very likeable (or characters you liked to hate, which is just as good), and I was curious to see if I was right (I mostly was, but I did over-complicate it a bit) and to see how the characters worked it out themselves.

The best bits were the fairy tales, which were quite delightful, and reminded me of Oscar Wilde's fairy tales, as well as a lovely collection of English fairy tales I loved as a child. There were also a number of fairy tale elements to the plot - the wicked stepmother, lost children, overgrown gardens, the almost supernatural beauty of Eliza (the author of the fairy tales).

However, even given the superficial complexities and time jumping, the story of Nell's birth and family was obvious, and I kept on thinking Cassandra must be a bit of a dill to not see it!

And there were a number of minor irritations as well: for example, when the dashing young man that has Cassandra blushing turned out to be a *doctor*, not a "mere" gardener, I almost pffft'ed out loud. That to me landed it fairly out of "literary fiction" (my preferred genre) and into "light fiction" - what woman would want to marry a gardener (poor income) when they could have a doctor (high income). Just too much of a "romance" wishlist - the handsome, sensitive, educated young man.

What's wrong with being a bloody gardener, I wanted to know.

Although, yes, it is nice to not have to worry about money. (I sometimes think of Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" - "Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help?")

It wasn't the best light fiction I've ever read, but it wasn't dreadful either - good ideas and some nice characters. Maybe it needed a good edit or something, it's probably that "difficult second novel". ( )

A wonderful book for a snowed in weekend! Kate Morton did a wonderful job intertwining the history of several generations and combining them at the end. The characters were for the most part, very well developed. I enjoyed the story and particularly enjoyed how a wonderful person can grow out of tough circumstances. The Forgotten Garden was very enjoyable and I am happy that I read it. ( )

Like "The House at Riverton," this book kept me interested. Morton is a very good storyteller, and this is nice reading for a rainy day.

At times I was a bit frustrated, though. Characters (Linus, for example) seem to have been tossed in, developed a bit, then went nowhere, as though the author wasn't quite sure what to do with them. Other times it seemed the author started out with one angle and changed her mind in the middle. I also wasn't throughly convinced by certain aspects of the story - friendships developed, then broken, rekindled...

Do not come to Morton looking for another A.S. Byatt! Byatt is genius. "The Forgotten Garden" is pleasant and good reading, but it is not in the same category, by any means, as "Possession." ( )

I would give this book a 10 if I could. Loved it...absolutely amazing....the writing is a masterpiece.

All the mysteries and secrets of the Mountrachet family are revealed....the ending is superb.

The story goes back and forth in time telling the story of how little Nell was put on a boat to Australia without an adult and how the portmaster and his wife in Australia took her in as their own. Nell's life makes a complete turn around for her when her father tells her on her 21st birthday that she isn't really his child.

The book tells of the generations before and after Nell. It is masterfully written...you don't want to put it down until you find out who Nell really is and until you find all the secrets about how she arrived on the boat and in Australia and the significance of the forgotten garden....the garden plays a huge part in the unraveling of the secrets and mysteries in the book.

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.

I absolutely loved this book. A young child is found alone on a ship and is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. When the child turns 21 her father tells her the truth about how she came to be with them. The book revolves around Nell finding out about her past. The book rotates from past to present and is just a wonderful read. ( )

There is a good family saga here. It is just told very disjointedly. I hate hate hated how the author jumped around between time periods. So hard to keep track of characters (lots with red hair, all having daughters/or dying young and tragically), and who knew what when. But otherwise, a nifty little mystery. ( )

I really lost myself in this book. It captured my interest and imagination immediately. I liked the way the story evolved through the use of the three time periods. The characters were well developed and all the loose ends were neatly tied. Well written and very enjoyable. ( )

Saw the big secret coming from miles away. ( )

It reminded me a little of A.S. Byatt, but without the literary aspirations. That sounds like I'm slamming either this or Byatt, but I mean it quite without connotation. It's a multi-generational family mystery plot that unfolds in a back-and-forth way, a present-day woman in Australia learns that her grandmother was a foundling child. The grandmother had attempted to investigate her true heritage in England, based mostly on clues connected to the small child's suitcase that was with her when she was discovered, including a beautifully illustrated book of fairy tales. The whole thing is a little homage-y with the Edwardian fairy tales and children's stories and fictional manor houses, which I thought was neat if you're into it, but possibly annoying if you're not.

It's very character-driven, this is where I was going with the A.S. Byatt comparison. They're very vivid and churn out the plot. One slight distracting note, though, was that while all the female characters were robust and filled in, I didn't feel like I got a good handle on any of the male characters at all. They seemed markedly flatter and lacking much spark.

Possibly some minor spoilers ahead, but I'm pretty vague ...I was able to figure out the details of the mystery ... oh, I'd say 85%. I was wrong on 15%, although I think my way would have been more realistic (but also ickier). This would be on the paternal identity issue. I'm still not convinced that events could have possibly unfolded the way they did in the book, I can't really believe anyone, much less the characters as written, would go along with that plan as described.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable and satisfying read, and I would recommend it to people who like family sagas, especially set in this time period. Grade: Strong and solid B. ( )

This is a very interesting book . It mirrors Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. This However is a much more adult take. A great picture of the 19th Century and the turn of the century . If you like this you will like A.S. Byatt's Possession and The Children's Book. These last two are more literary but all are enjoyable. ( )

The Forgotten Garden is a novel written from three perspectives in three different time periods. A 4-year-old girl is found abandoned on a ship in 1913 in Australia and nobody knows who left her to sail from England on her own. 90 years later, "Nell", dies leaving her granddaughter, Cassandra, with a mysterious child's suitcase, a book of fairy tales and a deed to a cottage in England, with directives for Cassandra to seek out Nell's past. This was a well-written novel that explores the history of a mysterious wealthy family and the events that preceded the young girl's abandonment on the ship for the new world. As the story unravels, it twists in unexpected ways like the fairy tales in the mysterious storybook. This novel was very enjoyable and entrancing and the full story is not revealed until the very end. A great magical read. ( )

Delightful English novel; well written, intriguing story with good character development. I enjoyed it even more than House at Riverton. ( )

I'm loving Kate Morton! This one is perfect for a long weekend. A mystery that slowly unfolds. ( )

In many ways, this book is like three novels rolled into one and deserves to be absorbed and savored by the reader. It is so wonderfully complex, weaving in and out of vastly different time periods, settings, and stories, yet the reader is never left behind in the transitions and each chapter builds upon the previous one and links you to the next in such a way that I marvel at Kate Morton's ability for detail and sense of timing. So often, when an author tries to tackle the stories of multiple characters, it seems inevitable that some characters are less compelling and vibrant than others, but this book provides a cast of equally interesting women, whose lives, while being inevitably linked to one another are also very much their own and could easily hold a reader's attention. Finishing this book felt like leaving a beloved location that I very much intend to revisit. ( )

Different and intense. Excellent writing ( )

Thoroughly enjoyable reading. ( )

I was hooked from the beginning. The book came to life and seemed to jump off the pages. The characters and their surroundings were so vivid in my mind's eye. Kate Morton is an awesome story teller. I can't wait to read The House at Riverton. ( )

Sweeping tale covering Cornwall and Australia. In 1913 a 4 year-old girl is abandoned on a ship to Australia and is taken in by a family there. In her possession is a book of fairy tales. When Nell tries to discover her true identity years later her inquiries take her to a cottage on a cliff in Cornwall with a hidden garden. But it will take her granddaughter, Cassandra, to discover what really happened. Told as three stories in one, fairy tales included. Sprawlling and satisfying. ( )

if you like fairy tales, then you will like this book. story goes back through generations to discover who is the mother of one of the characters. there are fairytales writtend by one of the characters intwined in the book. ( )

This was one of the best books that I have read in a long time. Once I got into it, I could not wait to get back to it. I listened to it on audio and the reader had such excellent accents from the Queen's English to gutter slang to Austrailian. There were stories within stories that spanned 3 generations. I loved the reference to Frances Hodges Burnett! The book is about a 4 yo girl who was found on a pier in Austrailia after disembarking from a transAtlantic journey alone from England. The story unravels the mystery by alternating perspectives from her previous generations of relatives and her granddaugher's story. Just a great story. Sad to see it end! ( )

I'm not going to rate this with stars because I shouldn't have read it in the first place (and how this got into my reading list I have no idea!). I don't like historical fiction, and I'm not a fan of chick lit... this has those features in abundance so, to me, it's a pretty uninteresting read 'cause I really don't care who Nell was. And, on top of all that, I'm not a fan of stories where one allows events that occurred when they were 4 to "taint" the rest of their lives. Get over it.

Anyway. I suppose it is well written, if you like stories that are told via flashbacks to different times and when they try to unravel a mystery backwards. It is a long book but it's easy to read so that's a plus. I just prefer my mysteries and detecting to matter - i.e. what's the point in solving a mystery when everyone involved is already dead?

Three stories, three women, Eliza Makepeace, Nell/ Ivory Walker, Cassandra. The narrative spanned two continents and 100 years. Each woman was likable, interesting to read about, and added something special. The layering of the stories was effective.

I will confess that it is no surprise to me that I was enamored by this book. I like stories within stories. I also love fairy tales and stories of people who love to read. This book was right up my alley! ( )

A thoroughly engaging mystery about a little girl, found on the wharf at Maryborough, Queensland, Australia in 1913, and the attempts she and her granddaughter make to find out who she really is and how she came to be abandoned. I found this one hard to put down. A really good read. ( )

Set in Brisbane and Cornwall, this novel spans more than 100 years, with sections dealing with each time period, jumping back and forth. Four-year-old Nell is abandoned on a ship arriving in Brisbane, taken home and raised by the dockmaster as his own. At age 60 she decides to go to England to find her true identity. After her death her granddaughter, Cassandra, continues to solve the mystery. A book of fairy tales and a secret abandoned garden (which Francis Hodgson Burnett visits) are central. Long 552 p. but kept my interest in spite of the back and forth of time periods. ( )

This has to be one of my all time favourite books. I love the parallel story lines and the way they interweave until finally, the mystery of who the little girl with the white suitcase is, is revealed. Brilliantly written! ( )