The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton

Kate Morton is a young Australian writer who lives in the Brisbane hinterland. She has been a fan of fairy stories since her childhood and has used this love of fantasy in this big, fat, delicious novel. The book, a work of historical fiction, is peppered with a wonderful set of characters and places where the reader feels part of the unravelling mystery.

The story is full of tragedy, secrets and discovery. There are three story lines happening, ranging from the present to early 20th century Victorian times, and all are tied together to create a suspenseful story of a family over several generations. The transitions between these periods create great tension, for example, the heat and frangipanis of the Brisbane setting is such a strong, marked, contrast to chilly Victorian England.

Morton uses wonderful descriptions, especially of the places she grew up in. As one who has experienced many a sub-tropical summer in Brisbane, her imagery captures the heat:

‘It was one of those desperate Antipodean spells where the days seem strung together with no gaps between. Fans do little else but move the hot air around, cicadas threaten to deafen, to breathe is to exert, and there is nothing for it but to lie on one's back and wait for January and February to pass...’ (Exactly, but now we have air conditioning!)

While some of the twists in the tale aren’t too difficult to predict, half the fun is finding out if you’re right and the other half is seeing which unanticipated twists Morton will throw in.

At the centre of the tale is Nell. Nell is secure in her identity and knows what she wants in life. Everything changes though, when on her 21st birthday her father reveals he is not her real father, her family is not her real family and she was, in fact, found on the Maryborough Wharf at the age of four. Her true origin and heritage are unknown. This news devastates Nell, as it would most readers, cracking the foundation of her life.

After Nell's death, it is her granddaughter Cassandra who must uncover the mystery of the little girl lost. This mystery takes her to Cornwall, to a cottage she has inherited from Nell. Here she discovers far more than she expects. In particular, she uncovers the long guarded secrets of the Mountrachet family, and of their ward, Eliza Makepeace. Eliza is the most fascinating character in the novel. From a young age she makes up stories to scare and fascinate those around her. Later, she puts these dark fairytales to paper, and these appear in the novel itself in the Victorian segment, making for a magical setting, mystery, and a fight between good and evil.

The characters are vivid, wounded and flawed in interesting ways that feel more Gothic than depressing. The story could be described as a combination of Daphne du Maurier and The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett puts in an appearance in the story.) The places are often as vivid as the characters, whether it’s the garden and cottage in Victorian England, Nell’s home in Australia in the now very trendy Brisbane suburb of Paddington, or a flat in London.

This is the second book of Morton's. If you can, chase down her other novel, international bestseller The Shifting Fog, every bit as breathtaking as The Forgotten Garden. I may review it next.

Reviewed by L’Aussie at L’Aussie Writing

Winner!

I'm very pleased to announce that the winner of 'The Silver Locket' is Fee. Further details can be found on Debs' blog.

Thanks very much to Debs and to Margaret James for allowing Bookersatz to be involved in this.

The Silver Locket

by Margaret James

'The Silver Locket' is set around the time of the Great War. Rose Courtenay is a well brought up young lady, who’s been raised to keep her mother and suitable acquaintances company until she marries the man her parents have chosen for her, whether she is in love with him or not.

She meets Alex Durham, a man of questionable parentage, who lives nearby with his uncle in a dilapidated house, and when Alex drunkenly asks Rose to dance, she rebuffs him despite feeling a disturbing spark for him and continues to talk with her proposed fiancé. Her parents encourage her to accept Michael’s marriage proposal, but although he’s handsome and charming, she suspects it’s not her that Michael is really in love with. Then, when Rose discovers that Alex is to be married, she reacts in a way her upbringing and family cannot understand and find hard to accept.

Rose volunteers as a nurse in London and although she’s not very good, she perseveres and joins the VADs with a friend. Alex, is in the infantry and spending the war fighting in the mud-strewn trenches. He’s injured and ends up being sent to the hospital where Rose is nursing. Despite her initial misgivings, she ends up caring for him, as his scars begin to heal and he slowly gets better. The two become close, and although she knows he’s a married man, Rose can’t help wanting to make the most of what little snatched time she is able to enjoy with Alex.

However, these are troubled times, and when her friend’s sister asks for her help, Rose makes a choice that will embroil her in an incident that will change her relationship with her family, and ultimately the course of her life. With so much stacked against them, how can they ever have a hope of a future together? Especially when an old adversary is so intent on stopping Alex from being with the woman he loves.

I loved this book and although I’ve researched this era fairly well, I still learnt so much and couldn’t help being drawn into Alex and Rose’s struggle to be together for however short a time. She is a gutsy heroine, who despite everything she’s been brought up to believe, finds she has more strength than she could ever have imagined, and Alex, handsome, deep and battling his own demons, has to face many obstacles in his path.

I can’t recommend this book enough. Whether you usually read historical novels, or not, this is a romance that will keep you reading page after page.

Reviewed by Debs Carr

War On The Margins

By Libby Cone

This is a very unusual book. Based on Libby Cone’s MA thesis, it is a fictionalised account of some of the real events that took place on Jersey during the Second World War.

The story is interspersed with original documents from the time, which add depth to the narrative and increase the chilling sense of reality that runs through it. Most people will be aware of the treatment of the Jewish population of Jersey during the Nazi occupation, but this account brings it vividly to life.

The counterpoint to the part of the narrative that deals with occupation and war, is the telling of some very different love stories. A shy young woman desperately trying to hide her partly Jewish heritage and an escaped prisoner; two women working for the resistance; an elderly Jewish woman and her infirm husband. All of their stories show how love can triumph even in the squalor and terror of war and the brutality of the Nazi regime.

The real life story of the artists and resistance workers Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore is cleverly woven into the story and adds a new dimension. Their story is fascinating.

I do recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this period and wants to read a very human account of it. I was gripped by the story throughout.

Reviewed by Helen M Hunt

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaeffer & Annie Barrows

I had this book in my 'To Be Read' pile for months, probably even a year, and wasn’t sure if I was that interested in reading it despite the good reviews. However, my aunt asked me what I thought of it and couldn’t believe it when I told her I hadn’t read further than the first line or two. Knowing she’d be asking me again, I thought I’d take another look and now I’m a convert.

The book is set in 1946. Juliet Ashton, an author, is bored with the book she’s supposed to be writing and needs to find inspiration. Dawsley Adams, a farmer from Guernsey, nervously writes to Juliet telling her he has a book that once belonged to her and asking for her help in locating the address of a London bookshop. They begin writing to each other and Dawsley tells Juliet all about being a member of the 'Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' and how the mysterious club came into being during the years that Guernsey was occupied by the Germans.

More members of the Society, as well as other locals with a grudge towards them, write to Juliet, filling her in on the background of their society and the tragic events that they endured during the war years. Juliet gets to know these extraordinary characters through their letters and discovers that the inhabitants of this small island, so close to France, are far more intriguing than she could have ever imagined.

I loved this book. As you read the letters, you feel as if you’re watching a particularly good wartime film. It’s beautifully written and the only negative about this book is the fact that the author, Mary Ann Shaeffer died just before it was published and so it’s one of a kind. I’ll be keeping my copy as I know it’s a book I’ll be returning to time and again.

Reviewed by Debs Carr

The Tapestry Of Love

Please pop over to my other blog to find out how you can get a free booklet of recipes featured in 'The Tapestry Of Love.'

Started Early, Took My Dog

By Kate Atkinson

I love Kate Atkinson and I love Jackson Brodie, so I knew I was going to enjoy this book – the fourth in the Brodie series – before I started.

Although there’s no reason why this book shouldn’t be read as a stand-alone novel, I would always recommend with a series like this that they ideally be read in order. In any case it would be a shame to miss out on the other three books (Case Histories, One Good Turn and When Will There Be Good News), as they are all fabulous.

One of the joys of reading this series is the development of Jackson Brodie as a character through time, and also the examination of the shifting sands of his relationships with the significant people in his life.

As ever Kate Atkinson’s writing is rich with imagery and allusion. And this time an overlay of historical detail adds another dimension. The shocking real life events of Yorkshire in the seventies provide a backdrop and counterpoint to the present day events of the novel.

Difficult themes are tackled in the course of Jackson’s latest adventure. Death, murder, illness, infertility, treachery and betrayal are all woven in to the story. But Kate Atkinson manages to do this in such a way that the beauty of human life and the joy of just existing shine through the pain. Despite the depressing subject matter, it is not a depressing book.

Reading Kate Atkinson is always like disappearing into a different and slightly disconcerting world where reality is thrown into sharp relief. This exchange sums it up for me.

‘‘You can see why Dracula landed here, can’t you?’ the driver of the Avensis said.

‘Dracula isn’t real,’ Jackson pointed out. ‘He’s a fictional character.’

The driver shrugged and said, ‘Fact, fiction, what’s the difference?’’

Each character is drawn exquisitely and even the minor ones take on a vivid presence. From guesthouse landlady of a certain age, Mrs Reid, to Canadian security guard, Leslie, they all have a life of their own.

Without giving anything away, I really hope the ending indicates that a further Jackson Brodie book is on its way. I hope I don’t have too long to wait. But, meanwhile, I might just read this one again.

Reviewed by Helen M Hunt