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)

great narration beautiful story

This book has a magical realism feel to it, it may be because of the fairytales being told throughout but I really enjoyed this beautiful story. It is a hard book to classify so I’m not going to pigeon hole it anywhere. I enjoyed the 3 different generations of women in this story and how their stories intertwined. This book is about family secrets and of how that affects generations. It spans from England to Australia in the early 1900 to the 2000’s. With each generation of women finding something about the past while at the same time finding something about themselves in the process.

I did enjoy this book very much however towards the end though you just want to scream at Cassandra and say hello I figured it out why can’t you! This book can be very sad at times and some may find the jumping around in time not to their liking. But I like books that show different time periods so I enjoyed that part. The prologue has a definite magical realism feel. I will definitely be reading more by this author!

The fairytales are a great and I wish there was an actual book of these fairytales!

I listened to this on audio narrated by Caroline Lee who does a fantastic job with all the accents from English, Australian & American.

Loved It

I just loved this book! It was a bit hard at first to keep the characters straight until I realized the dates stated at the beginning of a change helped keep it straight. Otherwise, a great story and great narrator. I wish Audible had more than 2 of her books available. My new favorite.

The Forgotten Garden

A great yarn with suspense, intrigue and a great cast of characters. Hated to hear it come to an end. Enjoyed the book very much.

Interesting but Slow Moving

A carefully crafted story, a good reader. The plot was interesting, but moved so slowly! Left me completely satisfied at the end, though - no plot twist was left tangled.

I loved this book!

I love books about women and hardships! and books that show generational ties. this book definitely has those. and so many twists and turns and characters. constantly changing. unpredictable. wonderfully perfect ending! I recommend it.

Family Mysteries and Strong Female Characters

What made the experience of listening to The Forgotten Garden the most enjoyable?

This book hooked my attention, and I found that I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters... loved seeing the events through several viewpoints. By the time I finished, I felt inspired to create a walled garden and to research my family history.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Forgotten Garden?

I found it very heartwarming that certain personality traits were passed from great grandmother to grandmother to mother to daughter.... I was almost envious of the main character.. wanting a family mystery of my own to solve! Such a great read.

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

Caroline Lee has a beautiful and soothing voice - and such a great accent! She's the first narrator that's ever truly stood out to me.

Unexpectations

This book suprised me. I don't mean by it's quality either, which was great! I just mean the plot was unexpected. Not another cookie cutter mystery. Bravo!!

Another wonderful story by Kate Morton

I have decided that Kate Morton is my favorite author. I love a good mystery that doesn’t rely on violence or sex to make a great story. I can’t wait to read more of her books. The narrator is wonderful as well.

Just the sort of 'Storytime' tale I was seeking!

The Forgotten Garden filled my desires for an new audio book. I was seeking a good, easy, engrossing story, read superlatively, not too intellectual (but not dumbed down, poorly written or insipid, either). I found these elements in Caroline Lee's fabulous narration of Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden. I'm an author, a mom, wife, daughter of elder parent caregiver and I do a lot of outdoor physical work and exercise as well. I wanted a story to relax with -- to ooze into my ears as I sat with a cup of tea or lay down for a nap; or, if I awakened in the middle of the night, unable to turn off compulsive concerns and anxiety, a story to take my mind in a new, pleasant direction and help me get back to sleep. I wanted it to be a story I'd look forward to; a story without irritating quirks in narration so that I could have confidence in listening enjoyment. I wanted to be TOLD a nice story and that's exactly what Caroline Lee reading The Forgotten Garden delivered!

The music lead-ins were a nice touch and the consistent relating of date and place to open each chapter helped keep the multi-layered story lines straight -- important in such a tale spanning multiple generations and different locations.

A couple of detractions, in my opinion:
Other readers (and, perhaps listeners) have written reviews mentioning the lack of development of some characters, particularly of the male characters, in the story; I would agree; it was something that I noted to myself as the story unfolded. More character development in that regard would have added somewhat to the length of the story, but, since I thoroughly enjoyed it, that would have been no problem for me, at all -- I would have welcomed a few more pages/minutes and added richness/dimension of the tale.

Also, later in the book, there is dialogue written for the three-to-four years old little Nell, that I found years too mature and disingenuous -- even for a superlatively-bright and precocious tot, which Nell was never purported to be. Perhaps, however, without that stretch of years-too-much maturity in the story, Kate Morton would not have been able to have placed Nell on board that boat to Australia in the manner that she did. To me, that dynamic and story thread was weak.

Back to the good points:
Early on, I figured out the main mystery, but that didn't at all detract from the story -- or, from the satisfying unfolding of attendant mysteries and elements, right up to and through the last pages/minutes. I liked that there were sub-mysteries! I thought Kate Morton did a fantastic job of not being stingy with filling in all the blanks. She had created what I found to be a wonderfully told story and she brought all of the threads together, respectfully honoring the reader/listener and taking what I considered to be just the right amount of time to create a complete, satisfying ending. She wasn't rushed or lazy in the last chapters, at all. I was impressed with that and I found myself mentally thanking Kate Morton for having respected the reader enough to do this. I hope she feels satisfaction in having created this experience for her readers/listeners.

Perhaps, The Forgotten Garden would not be as pleasant a reading experience as it was an audio book, but as a curl-up-and-listen, anticipate-the-experience story told personally to me by a great story narrator, it was just right! I hope others find it so, as well. I gave The Forgotten Garden five stars overall. Though it wouldn't be considered great literature, it gave me exactly what I wanted, as I wanted it, with no irritating, deal-breaking detraction -- and I was sorry to have the story end. I can easily imagine myself listening to it again in the future, enjoying the tale twice told!

Compelling

A great listen! A plot with lots of twists and turns. Interesting characters. Excellent narration.