Why a Booktrail?
1948: Love can bring people together, tear them apart and makes fools and liars of us all
The Forget-Me-Not Sonata
What you need to know before your trail
Audrey Garnet lives a sheltered life in the exclusive Argentinian community of Hurlingham. That is, until Cecil and Louis Forrester arrive, travelling from England to make their fortunes.
Admired by all for her beauty and grace, Audrey quickly catches the eyes of both brothers, but it is talented-but-troubled outsider Louis with his musical flair whom she is drawn to most. Cecil, however, is a better match – a decorated war hero who has charmed the entire community, including Audrey’s parents, forcing Audrey to keep her true feelings a secret.
But when a family tragedy rocks Audrey’s world, she is faced with a terrible dilemma: must she do her duty to her family, or will she finally be able to follow her heart?
Locations
Reset- Argentina - Buenos Aires
- A: Hurlingham - Central Train station
- B: Hurlingham - club
- C: Reconquista river
- D: Magdalena
- E: Palermo
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to Hurlingham, Buenos Aires
The main setting of the book is Hurlingham – the rich and privileged English speaking enclave of Buenos Aires. The Garnet family in the book live a life others can only dream of. Their daughters are on the cusp of finding husbands and making good matches. Audrey however has other ideas and falls for someone the family is never going to accept.
Life here is gilded but it’s a gilded cage for many. Escape is hard but sweet. However guilt and habit can keep a cowed prisoner in their cage. Hurlingham is that cage – riches and wealth but it comes at a price – freedom and the right to love who you want. It’s all about image and status here. The heat and humidity of the setting is evoked but this is not the real Buenos Aires, it is the rich enclave, the expat enclave where everything is about appearances.
Dorset and London
The section of the book in Dorset paints a lovely picture of fine, grand houses in the countryside. There is green pasture, rich rolling hills and a sense of freedom. However, children in the book are forced to go into boarding school here. The sense of claustrophobia continues. Families are unhappy. The only difference between settings in many ways is the lack of heat here.
Several scenes in London but in the hallways of posh homes, country clubs, hotels and fine shops.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Forget me Not Sonata
Destination: Buenos Aires, Dorset Author/guide: Santa Montefiore Departure Time: 1948 onwards
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