The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

I read this novel last summer and I haven't written about it yet because I don't know how to do it justice. It starts in the late 1800's with a little girl abandoned on a ship that travels from London to Australia. All I can tell you is that I got completely swept up in the magical story that combined romance, mystery, family saga, fairy tales, Dickensian story lines and even a little "Rebecca"-like horror. I took my kindle with me from room to room and everywhere else that I went because all I wanted to do was get back to that world. I actually became a little annoyed at the real world for interrupting and pulling me out of secluded English manors, the back streets of London (where I wouldn't have been at all suprised to find Fagin lurking nearby), scary high cliffs overlooking the sea, mysterious cottages and of course "The Forgotten Garden" which will remind you of the many parallels between this book and the Secret Garden. There were villains of every social class and sympathetic characters with deep secrets and amazingly, at least to me, Kate Morton seemed to weave the whole thing together seamlessly.

I can't figure out why I didn't immediately start reading Kate Morton's first novel, Riverton House.