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The Forgotten Garden | 
 enlarge | Author: Kate Morton
Publisher: Pan Books
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £2.85
You Save: £5.14 (64%)
New (24) Used (22) from £1.12
Rating:  112 reviews
Sales Rank: 48
Media: Paperback
Pages: 350
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 2.1
ISBN: 0330449605
EAN: 9780330449601
ASIN: 0330449605
Publication Date: June 6, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 107 more reviews...
 Showed promise but, in the end, didn't deliver January 8, 2009
A Customer (UK)
Had I been rating this book about a third of the way through, I would probably have given it 3-4 stars. I think the author has a nice style of writing and introduced some themes which were, initially, compelling. I also love historical mystery books so this promised to be a real treat. So what went wrong? Well two things really, characterisation and editing.
Characterisation is such an important feature of any book for me and I found all the characters here two-dimensional and in many cases, like caricatures. I never really believed that their actions, which often were severe, were justified either from what we'd been told about them or the situations they found themselves in (Nell's complete rejection of her family being the worst example but there are countless others). Consequently, I never really bonded with any of them or cared, in the end, what happened to them.
Equally disappointing, however, was the fact that with a good editor this novel could have been so much better. It would have been shorter for a start. Like many reviewers, I'd figured out the mystery by half way through the book (it's not difficult). To read, quite literally, hundreds more pages of text just to find out you were right was frustrating and the blind alley thrown in towards the end was so obvious it was annoying.
There were also numerous other editing oversights that other reviewers have picked up like an extremely clumsy derivative style, loose threads of ideas that were never taken forward or served any diversionary value but then were not edited out, the unlikely names of English characters and locations (a middle-aged Cornish lady call Robyn to name but one) and the use of dialogue fillers like "she pushed her lips together" over and over again.
I like to be fully engrossed in a story so much so that whilst I'm desperate to know the outcome, I'm equally desperate that it shouldn't end. All these niggles detracted constantly from the story and so I never really felt immersed in it. Indeed, at one point I felt like giving up but by then I'd invested so much time in the book, I felt compelled, albeit reluctantly, to continue. Not the makings of a satisfying read then.
 fan dabby flipping dozy!!!! January 3, 2009
E. Rose (uk)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed the house at riverton but have to say that this was even better!!!! I could hardly put it down and was so totally engrossed in it from the first to the last page.
Just a thought for those of you avid fans too....as I was reading quite often into the small hours and am particular about detail....near the end of the book it is mentioned that marys families address in australia was put in the bottom of the little white suitcase by Eliza just in case.....as in incase she should get lost. so where was mention of the address earlier in the book. who were the one couple who did go in search of the child near the begining of the book....just a thought.....I would love to hear what others thought on this...
and I would love to see both this and the house at riverton turned into movies!!!!!!!!
 Light entertainment for a cold winter's day January 2, 2009
Myrtle (Wiltshire, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First, let me say this - I'm not normally a fan of 'famliy' saga type novels, and the only reason I purchsed this book was that (a) it was in the sale and (b) I fancied trying something different from my usual list of 'reads'. Secondly, having now read the book over the Christmas break it is fairly clear this book probably isn't going to change your life. However, I wasn't disappointed by the book.
It's a bit on the predictable side, and split between three main characters but it leads you gently by the hand through their different lives. It is paced well and has enough in each chapter to keep you wanting to read the next and the story is as charming as the picture on the front cover. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone looking for a deep and meaningful read but if you fancy a bit of light holiday reading, which isn't too mindless, then I would certainly suggest trying it. It's the sort of book I'd lend to my Mum and I would certainly keep an eye out for toerh Kate Morton books in the sales.
An enchanting read... January 1, 2009
Sarah Selwood (Swindon, United Kingdom)
From the moment I picked up this book, I could not put it down. It draws you in and keeps you engrossed from the first page to the very last. The storylines are very cleverly woven together, giving you just a little more information to the untangling of the story, but not too much so as to keep you reading on for more! I commend Kate Morton for writing a book that is such a joy to read.
Another Gem from Kate Morton December 20, 2008
Graceann Macleod (London, UK)
Kate Morton gives us another in what is becoming her niche; she offers a mystery told from three different points in time, and only in the last 50 pages or so does she tie up the loose ends.
In 1913, a little girl is found all by herself after a ship docks in Australia. She has nobody waiting for her and no history that can be discerned. In 1975, she finds a few more pieces of the puzzle, and in 2005 her granddaughter Cassandra finally solves the mystery of who Nell was and how she came to be sitting on that little white suitcase on the pier.
One of the things I love best about Kate Morton is her ability to surprise me. I often see plot twists coming from a mile away, and this isn't often true of Ms. Morton's novel. There was one incident that I could see occurring, but I was still interested in seeing how she would bring it to fruition.
My only other quibble, and it's a very minor one, is that the final piece of the mystery is solved accidentally and just a little too tidily. I did want there to be closure, but it felt just a tad too convenient. I stress that this is the tiniest of criticisms, given that I loved the book as a whole so much and couldn't turn the pages fast enough in order to find out what would happen next. I anxiously await anything that Kate Morton does next.
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