The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

"You make a life out of what you have, not what you are missing."

 ~ Ruby in The Forgotten Garden, 463

The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton was a favorite with our book club.  Many commented it was hard to put the book down.  We enjoyed the intertwining of the three different generations of women together -a helpful note in reading this book is to pay attention to the date at the beginning of each chapter, as it helps you to know who and which generation you will be reading about.
A few tidbits from our discussion:

1. Nell was admired for her sacrifice in putting her search for her past aside  in order to create a stable home for her grand daughter Cassandra, because Nell knew what it felt like to be abandoned. 
2.  It was hard to understand how people like Adeline can be so motivated and driven by what other people might think, we discussed the deception that she was trying to live and how that made her more hard hearted and unrelenting.  
3. Linus was viewed as strange in his obsessive clinging to Georgiana's memory, and refusal to connect with his own daughter -  but it was discussed that his sister was the only one who had showed him love and acceptance, as he was growing up in a family who was obsessed with perfection and appearances and he was rejected because of his disability. 
4. We also enjoyed how Kate Morton wove in Eliza's fairy tales into the story as well.

Some of our favorite quotes:

“We're all unique, just never in the ways we imagine.” 

“Always remember, with a strong enough will, even the weak can wield great power.” 

“It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season.” 

“... time had a way of moulding people into shapes they themselves no longer recognised ...” 

And a favorite for all of us book lovers ~

“Cassandra always hid when she read, though she never quite knew why. It was as if she couldn't shake the guilty suspicion that she was being lazy, that surrendering herself so completely to something so enjoyable must surely be wrong. But surrender she did. Let herself drop through the rabbit hole and into a tale of magic and mystery ...” 

from Kate Morton's website: http://www.katemorton.com/the-forgotten-garden/

The Forgotten Garden

A lost child...

On the eve of the first world war, a little girl
is found abandoned on a ship to Australia.
A mysterious woman called the Authoress
had promised to look after her -
but the Authoress has disappeared without
a trace.

A terrible secret...

On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell O'Connor learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.

A mysterious inheritance...

On Nell's death, her grand-daughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance. Cliff Cottage and its forgotten garden are notorious amongst the Cornish locals for the secrets they hold - secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family and their ward Eliza Makepeace, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales. It is here that Cassandra will finally uncover the truth about the family, and solve the century-old mystery of a little girl lost.