The Forgotten Garden review
Sep. 10th, 2008 08:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThe Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton was another of my random Oxford purchases, and a very good one too.
The plot was a bit derivative (especially the turn of the century sections), but it was beautifully structured, with multiple timelines interweaving to reveal the overall story bit by bit. All the characters were well drawn and interesting, and it had enough red herrings sprinkled along the way to prevent me from guessing all the intricacies of the plot. In fact, the theory I came up with to explain the central mystery was rather unpleasant and I was glad the real revelation was somewhat less unsavoury.
The writing was good for the most part - it certainly kept me enjoying the narrative for all of the 650 pages of the book, no mean feat when I'm low on sleep and patience. I actually finished the book two days earlier than planned and now have to find something short to fill the time before setting off on holiday on Saturday (I like to start a long journey with a fresh book).
The plot was a bit derivative (especially the turn of the century sections), but it was beautifully structured, with multiple timelines interweaving to reveal the overall story bit by bit. All the characters were well drawn and interesting, and it had enough red herrings sprinkled along the way to prevent me from guessing all the intricacies of the plot. In fact, the theory I came up with to explain the central mystery was rather unpleasant and I was glad the real revelation was somewhat less unsavoury.
The writing was good for the most part - it certainly kept me enjoying the narrative for all of the 650 pages of the book, no mean feat when I'm low on sleep and patience. I actually finished the book two days earlier than planned and now have to find something short to fill the time before setting off on holiday on Saturday (I like to start a long journey with a fresh book).
