Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

2024 Challenge Sign-Up Post

January Reviews Link-Up

February Reviews Link-Up

March Reviews Link-Up

April Reviews Link-Up

May Reviews Link-Up

June Reviews Link-Up

July Reviews Link-Up

August Reviews Link-Up

September Reviews Link-Up

October Reviews Link-Up

November Reviews Link-Up

December Reviews Link-Up

My Progress:


9 / 30 books. 30% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


12 / 51 states. 24% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


10 / 50 words. 20% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


15 / 50 books. 30% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 52 books. 52% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 40 books. 53% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


13 / 40 books. 33% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


5 / 25 books. 20% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


17 / 26.2 miles. 65% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


15 / 100 books. 15% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


34 / 104 books. 33% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


31 / 52 books. 60% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


32 / 165 books. 19% done!
Monday, April 14, 2014

Lush, Succulent Family Saga Makes Me Pine for More Morton

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

In 1913, a ship arrives in Maryborough, Australia from England.  When all the passengers embark, scattering to their various destinations, a small girl remains on the wharf.  Alone.  The child refuses to give her name, insisting she can't remember it or anything else about herself.  A shiny white suitcase containing clothes and a gorgeously-illustrated book of fairy tales is the only clue to her identity.  The lone witness to the girl's abandonment, portmaster Hugh O'Conner can't fathom how he's supposed to solve this dilemma.  Missing luggage he's dealt with before, but an unclaimed person?  The flummoxed, tender-hearted man takes the girl home to be fussed over by his wife, who's still grieving from her most recent miscarriage.  Nestled in the warm bosom of the O'Conner Family, little Nell grows into a young lady, remembering nothing about her auspicious landing in Australia.  

When Nell turns 21, Hugh knows it's time to tell her the truth.  His revelation, naturally, sends her into a tailspin.  Confused and angry, she turns away from the only family she's ever known.  It's years later, however, that she receives the white suitcase with its scanty clues.  Determined to find out who she really is—once and for all—Nell follows what little information she has to a grand old mansion on the Cornish coast.  As she learns more about the Montrachets, the colorful family who once lived there, Nell finds herself fascinated, but puzzled.  Unable to see a connection between them and her, she lets the matter drop.  

Decades later, when Nell passes away, her granddaughter is shocked to inherit a cottage in Cornwall.  Cassandra Andrews can't imagine why her beloved grandmother would own property in such a faraway place or why she never once mentioned it.  Armed with little more information than Nell had, Cassandra sets out to solve the mystery of her grandmother's true roots.  As she fits all the pieces into the puzzle, she finds her remarkable journey into the past leading to the one place that's always somehow eluded her:  home.    

You probably can't tell from the books I've been reviewing lately, but my favorite literary genre—hands down—is the family saga.  The thicker and juicier the better.  Given my taste for such lush, succulent tales, it's a wonder it took me so long to try those of Australian author Kate Morton.  Now that I have, I can't get enough!  The Forgotten Garden is a perfect example of why the writer is so popular among my fellow saga lovers.  It's rich, vivid, and absorbing.  With a setting that lives and breathes, characters who walk and talk, and a plot that twists and turns, it's a thoroughly engrossing tale.  Despite its length (a hefty 549 pages), the novel chugs along at a quick enough pace to keep the reader's interest.  The back-and-forth between time and narrators did get a little confusing at times, but that's my only complaint with The Forgotten Garden and it's a minor one, indeed.  Overall, I adored sinking my teeth into this luscious, layered feast of a family saga.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of The House at Riverton and The Distant Hours, both by Kate Morton)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for brief, mild language (no F-bombs); violence; and mild sexual innuendo/content

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of The Forgotten Garden with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.



   

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
End of Story by A.J. Finn

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
My Contrary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive



2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Susan has read 0 books toward her goal of 200 books.
hide

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction