Why a Booktrail?
1914, 1975, 2005: A gruelling journey at sea. A mysterious woman called the authoress who disappears and a secret which circles from England to Australia…
The Forgotten Garden
What you need to know before your trail
With the first world war approaching, a young girl is taken to Australia by a woman she only knows as the Authoress. When they dock, the woman disappears and the child, Nell is left alone.
1975 – Nell is now old and determined to find out where she comes from and what happened all those years ago. Heading to Blackhurst Manor in Cornwall, she tries to discover the truth after all these years. Why did she leave it so long to find out about her past?
2005 – Nell’s granddaughter Cassandra inherits a cottage near to Blackhurst manor and a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace, the authoress. Now it is up to her to unravel the history of it all and Forgotten Garden at the house which could reveal it all.
Travel Guide
Ever felt as if you want to climb into a book, literarily step into its pages and see and meet the characters, feel the magic of the storytelling all around you then this is the book for you. There is also a book within a book – Eliza’s book of fairytales which really should be a real book due to the magic it contains.
The Forgotten Garden linked to a house in Cornwall has been left to rack and ruin and the vines and tree branches protect its secrets. They unfurl to reveal the past and the connections between people and places that might not seem connected at first. This garden is magical and eerie all at once:
“A full moon meant that the room wasn’t completely dark. A silvery film spilled across every surface, smooth and dull like wax gone cool”
Two children played in that house and garden – one rich, one poor, and their imaginary worlds mixed with that garden’s real and very evocative pleasure. How this garden in Cornwall is linked to a woman now in Australia is a fairytale with gothic leanings, Grimm style atmosphere and a treasure chest full of family secrets. And the thread that hangs everything together – a wonderfully evocative book of fairytales mixing the magical and real worlds in one fantastic storytelling bow.
Streetview Maps
4) Cornwall - The Lost Gardens of Heligan
Inspiration for the Forgotten Garden?
Inspiration for the Forgotten Garden?
5 ) Brisbane - Where the story begins..
Yellow buildings on Latrobe Terrace, Paddington
Yellow buildings on Latrobe Terrace, Paddington
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
Eliza Makepeace will go down as one of the greatest characters in literature in my opinion. This story reminded me of everything I love about reading – those magical worlds you imagine when you have a book in your hands, the worlds you longed to recreate as a child, the trees you climbed up to see who really lived there (or was that just me?)
This book has the wow factor like Narnia and the secret garden but the gothic overtones and the hidden secrets that are very serious and threaten to change lives. There’s little to say without revealing something that would spoui your enjoyment of it. This is a tale to be savoured, read slowly and absorbed inits entirety.
Eliza, Nell and Cassandra are wonderful characters and the others – Rose, Nathaniel, Adeline, and Linus were also so well formed I could see and hear them. I haven;t read anything quite like this before and have several editions of it as it reminded me why I love reading so much.
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