The Forgotten Garden

By: Kate Morton

Narrated by: Caroline Lee

Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A foundling, an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, a maze, an aristocratic family, a love denied, a mystery - The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric, and a compulsive listen about the past, ghosts, family, and memories from best-selling author Kate Morton.

Thirty-eight year old Cassandra is lost, alone, and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident 10 years ago, feels like she has lost everything known and dear to her.

But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra's life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family. Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace Rutherford - the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early 20th century - as well as a cliff-top cottage on the other side of the world, Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell, on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself.

©2008 Kate Morton (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

"This debut page-turner...recounts the crumbling of a prominent British family as seen through the eyes of one of its servants....Morton triumphs with a riveting plot, a touching but tense love story and a haunting ending." ( Publishers Weekly)

stellar

Amazing story. Brilliant writing. Just perfect. Will definitely read the rest of her work.

Wonderfully woven story

Intriguing story, which didn't lag. If you enjoy the English turn-of-the-century-free-spirit-heroine type of novel, you'll like this. The author did a wonderful job of painting pictures and capturing characters' actions with words. I do wish I had read the book, rather than listened to the audiobook format. Given the fact that the storyline wasn't linear, it would have been nice to be able to flip back a few pages or chapters to re-read sections to refresh my memory after I skipped a few days between listens. But don't let that stop you -- it's a good listen and the narrator was excellent.

rich in descriptive writing

The narrator is perfect with her accent to bring out the australian and english history. The weaving of the years that cross the three main characters is compelling

Highly recommend

Loved it!! Easy to listen to and follow, with an ending that left me with quiet reflection of what I had just heard.

What a great listen!

I loved this book. Listened to it in less than a week I was so entranced. The reader was superb.
And though I guessed at the underlying mystery about 1/3 of the way through that's only because I read a lot of mysteries. Can't wait to read the previous book by Ms. Morton. It was very entertaining and there are times when I really, really just want to be entertained!

Top Ten

This was in my opinion in the top ten books that I have ever listened to and I have listened to a lot of books.

loved the book

beautiful descriptions and straightforward characters made this an enjoyable read. I did find the story line a bit predictable but that didn't diminish my listening pleasure

A beautiful summer read

A lovely long read of finding who you are through your family history. The same story told through three generations giving you glimpses from the early 1900's, mid 70's and 2005.

Amazing

I had difficulty getting in to it at first but it was worth it. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat. I absoloutly loved it.

Sweet. Interesting, kept me guessing

I love Caroline Lee and this Kate Morton book was a really good listen. Characters were great and it was easy to follow the changes in timelines.