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)

Victorian easy listen

Not deep, but very good. If you are a Downtown Abbey fan, you will enjoy this.

Rediscovering Your Past

What did you love best about The Forgotten Garden?

It was a book in which Cassandra is healing from the loss of her grandmother, Nell. While she is doing so, she picks up the torch of her grandmother's search about who she was. Nell made some noble sacrifices and was never able to finish her search and learn about who she was and where she came from. Cassandra feels the need to finish that search for her, even after she is gone. It is a book full of compassion, love, betrayals, and loss.

What other book might you compare The Forgotten Garden to and why?

It reminds me somewhat of the story of Anastasia. A young girl who loses her memories grows up and simply wants to discover who she is.

What does Caroline Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Caroline Lee was an excellent narrator with a perfect, soothing voice for the majority of the book. However ,she showed she was more than capable of adjusting her tones as needed to suit the more unscrupulous characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are many parts in this book that are moving as you learn more about the past, both Nell's and the authoress's, and the present. This book will draw you in and make you hope for each character that they will find their happy ending.

Unexpected Treasure

This book blew me away as I had no idea what I would find in it. I saw it on sale, saw some good reviews, and was looking for longer books as I go through too quickly. Unfortunately it was such a great story that despite a it's twenty some odd hours, it didn't even last me a week. I found myself recanting the whole saga to my husband-finding it almost impossible to get the time, names, and plot timing correct as it is such a wonderful nonlinear plot. As someone who loves the edwardian era, I enjoyed the insights into the barely post victorian world of Eliza and Rose. The harsh reality of the world, class, expectations, orphans in east London and children on an estate-all of it was very tragic and insightful. Morton does an amazing job weaving together families and mysteries over a 100 years with each occurring not only simultaneously, but also as the same story. The maze is great symbolism of the story. The connections from losing, being lost, and discovering one's self within each story to one another is tragically beautiful. Mortan manages to start a book with a wild fairy tale and continue and end it with reality. I can't say enough wonderful words about this book. Such a wonderful surprise.

I thought this was an excellent book!

This is not a book I would normally read but I am glad I went out on a limb. It is a very good listen although the narrator did not create different character voices, it was still a good listen.

OUTSTANDING!!

Excellent story and impressive narration. So glad I found Kate Morton through Audible books. Highly recommended.

Captivating narrator for an amazing story

I cannot decide which I liked more: the narrator or the story? The author weaves together four generations while keeping us in suspense to the very end. The narrator captures this tale through her beautiful reading. I loved every minute and only regret I've come to the end!

Excellent

A wonderful story, told masterfully with the exact balance of suspense, warmth and redemption. Characters are great. It's the kind of book you keep hoping to return to. The alternate narratives (1900, 1913, 1975, 2005) are perfectly clear and provide rhythm to the book.
Caroline Lee does a remarkable job in a perfect narration, that adds a lot of value to this audiobook.

Magical!

I could not stop lustening to this story. The three plots interwoven with children's fairy tales made it fir a rich and enchanting listen.

Gripping

I enjoyed this one. I liked the span across generations, and the story unraveled in a way that kept it interesting.

Flying time machine.

This was a good mystery that, once I figured out how to follow, was fairly interesting. However, I felt like I was in a flying time machine. Every chapter jumped forward or back in time and to a different character. After about the 4th chapter, I had to start over just to understand the sequence and writing style and I paid closer attention to the narrator. My husband was not as determined as me. he quit the book because of the time machine effect.