Although I haven’t yet read Kate Morton’s previous novel, The House at Riverton, as soon as I saw her latest book, The Forgotten Garden, on the New Books table at the bookstore, I knew I wanted to read it. Even more so when I read the jacket blurb which made the book sound like a grown-up version of The Secret Garden mixed with a dollop of Du Maurier-esque Gothic suspense.

In 1913 Australia, a little girl is found abandoned in a sea-side town, and all that’s known about her is that she arrived on a ship from England. The girl knows only that a mysterious woman she called The Authoress brought her on board the ship and hid her away.  The portmaster brings the girl home and he and his wife name her Nell and raise her as their own daughter. Years later when Nell is told about how she came to be part of their family, she embarks on a quest to find out her real identity. But it is left to Nell’s granddaughter, Cassandra, to retrace her grandmother’s footsteps, to delve into the secrets of the past, unearthing the truth among the cliffs of Cornwall and the imposing Blackhurst Manor. The common thread throughout the novel is a collection of stories written by Eliza Makepeace, a forgotten Edwardian writer of enigmatic and enchanting fairy tales, some of which are laced throughout the novel, offering tantalzing clues and further mysteries. At the heart of the book and the mystery is the manor’s cottage garden, which is both a symbolic and tangible link to Nell’s past.

The Forgotten Garden is an atmospheric, superb story, one that offers fans of Sarah Waters, Diane Setterfield and the great Gothic writers a worthy and rewarding reading experience. It was also the perfect way for me to begin this year’s RIP Challenge. Oh, and The House at Riverton? A copy is on my nightstand, waiting to be read.