Book review: The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

The blurb.

"a novel that takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through generations and across continents as two women try to uncover their family’s secret past"

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book—a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-fi rst birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.

My opinion.

Wauw, what a novel. This is definitely one of the best books I've ever read. It's a brilliant mystery, but it's not just a story about solving a mystery. The outcome is delayed by telling the story of all the different generations involved. We get to know each and everyone of the characters in their own time, and how they are remembered. Brilliant. You fall in love with little Nell first, you fall in love with little Cassandra and little Eliza next. But the more the story goes on, the more you start to get to know the grown up versions too. Cassandra and her own troubling past, trying to uncover Nell's. By giving you the chance to get to know every one of them, you get so deeply involved in the mystery that you just can't let it go. You feel part of it.
The plot has a lot of unexpected turns. Every time you think you've got the answers, another secret is uncovered. Brilliant read, brilliant brilliant brilliant!