51. the FORGOTTEN GARDEN

Kate Morton 2008

A highly intricately woven story of three women, Nell, Eliza and Cassandra, mysteriously connected together by a suitcase with a fairy tale book that started a journey from Queensland, Australia to London and Cornwall, at the Cliff Cottage where the secrets of the forgotten garden is delicately revealed.

"It was dark where she was crouched but the little girl did as she'd been told. The lady had said to wait, it wasn't safe yet, they had to be as quiet as larder mice. It was a game, just like a hide-and-seek."(3)

"Later, when her grandmother had slipped into unconsciousness again, Cassandra wondered at the mind's cruel ability to toss up flecks of the past. Why, as she neared her life's end, her grandmother's head should ring with the voices of the people long since gone. Was it always this way? Did those with passage booked on death's silent ship always scan the dock for faces of the long-departed?"(14)

"Beneath the notebook she found the book of fairy tales. The cover was green cardboard, the writing gold: Magical Tales for Girls and Boys, by Eliza Makepeace."(36)

"All the secrets that had materialized in her grandmother's wake were beginning to knit together. Nell's unknown parentage, her arrival as a child at an ocean port, the suitcase, the mysterious trip to England, this secret house..."(58)

"Later, when she looked back upon events, Cassandra knew it was the suitcase that found her, just as it had done the first time."(80)

"As the ocean continued to stretch below, Cassandra turned to the first story and began to read, a story called "The Crone's Eyes," which she recognized from the hot summer's day long ago." (94)

"You mustn't wait for someone to rescue you...A girl expecting rescue never learns to save herself. Even with the means, she'll find her courage wanting. Don't be like that, Eliza. You must find your courage, learn to rescue yourself, never rely on someone else." (122)

"They are strands of hair, Eliza, taken from the women in my family. My grandmother's her mother's before, and so on. It's tradition. This is called a mourning brooch...Because it reminds us of those we've lost. Those who came before and made us who we are." (124)

"Then she folded his memory a gently as she could, wrapped it in the layers of emotion--joy, love, commitment--for which she no longer had need, and locked the whole deep inside her." (142)

"You mustn't speak your name. It's a game we're playing. That's what the Authoress had said. Nell could hear it now, the silvery voice, like a breeze off the ocean surface. It's our secret. You mustn't tell."(164)

"The prospect of an early death sits differently upon each person. In some it gifts maturity far outweighing their age and experience" calm acceptance blossoms into a beautiful nature and soft countenance. In others, however, it leads to the formulation of a tiny ice flint in their heart. Ice that, though at times concealed, never properly melts."(239)

"Even the most pragmatic person fell victim at times to a longing for something other."(254)

"Rose Mountrachet at eighteen was fair indeed: white skin, a cloud of dark hair swept back in loose braid and the full bosom so fashionable in the period."(268)

"It was a garden, a walled garden. Overgrown but with beautiful bones visible still. Someone had cared for this garden once. The remains of two paths snaked back and forth, intertwined like the lacing on an Irish dancing shoe. Fruit trees had been espaliered around the sides, and wires zigzagged from the top of one wall to the top of another. Hungry wisteria branches had woven themselves around to form a sort of canopy. Against the southern wall, an ancient and knobbled tree was growing... It was the apple tree..."(314)

"She of course, had her heart set on a greater match & will not see that I care for not one whit for money or title. Those are her desires for me, & while I confess I once shared them, I do so no longer--How can I when my Prince has come for me and unlatched the door to my golden cage?"(333)

"In each man's heart there lies a hole. A dark abyss of need, the filling of which takes precedence over all else. Adeline suspected that Nathaniel Walker's hole was pride, the most dangerous pride, that of the poor man."(337)

"If a windsock is left suspended for years on end, without opportunities for rest or repair, the harsh winds will invariably tear holes in its fabric. So too, Lady Mountrachet, your daughter must be allowed time to recuperate. Must be shielded from the strong winds that threaten to rend her asunder."(407)

"Deep within the heart of the cottage, behind a special door with a shiny lock, there was a very precious object. A Golden Egg whose glow was said to be brilliant, so beautiful, that those whose eyes lit upon it were rendered instantly blind."(471)

First Atria Books hardcover edition April 2009,
549 pages
Book borrowed from the Library