The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans

 

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Headline Review (18 April 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1472261925
• ISBN-13: 978-1472261922

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Nightingale House, 1919. Liddy Horner discovers her husband, the world-famous artist Sir Edward Horner, burning his best-known painting The Garden of Lost and Found days before his sudden death.

Nightingale House was the Horner family’s beloved home – a gem of design created to inspire happiness – and it was here Ned painted TheGarden of Lost and Found, capturing his children on a perfect day, playing in the rambling Eden he and Liddy made for them.

One magical moment. Before it all came tumbling down…

When Ned and Liddy’s great-granddaughter Juliet is sent the key to Nightingale House, she opens the door onto a forgotten world. The house holds its mysteries close but she is in search of answers. For who would choose to destroy what they love most? Whether Ned’s masterpiece – or, in Juliet’s case, her own children’s happiness.

Something shattered this corner of paradise. But what?

 

Review

The Garden Of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans covers over one hundred years and three generations of women of the Horner family.  In the late nineteenth century, Libby meets artist Ned Horner, a friend of her brother, and against all odds they marry.  Ned buys Nightingale House, a pace where Libby’s mother grew up and so begins the family love with the house and the place where Ned paints his most famous work, The Garden Of Lost And Found.  Stella Horner is the daughter of Ned and Libby, she grows up in Nightingale House until it is left to her precious granddaughter Juliet.  Juliet’s life is falling apart and when she gets the keys to Nightingale House she packs up her children and moves to the beautiful house of her childhood.  Three women, all facing difficulties times  live in the idyllic house in the hope of finding happiness.

The cover of this book is absolutely stunning as is the book itself.  I feel this book was made for me to read with its plot centred around a missing piece of art and with the main character sharing my name and being an art historian (my degree was in Art History).  I was gripped from the first page and this book held my attention throughout, and it was a case of wanting to finish to find out what happens, but what also not wanting this beautiful story to end.  The split time line is one of my favourite literary devices, the mix of past and present and the ties that bind them make for an interesting read.   There a quite a few surprises that alter the lives of the inhabitants of Nightingale House in ways they never imagined.

Harriet Evans has some wonderful characters in this book, some that I loved others not so much. Juliet was my favourite, with her philandering husband who puts her down, a truculent teenage daughter who is having problems at school and two younger children who are demanding of her time and a boss who is sexist.  Nightingale House is a sanctuary for her, a place she feels free of the shackles of life.  It is the same for her grandmother Stella, and her great-grandmother Libby who also see the house as a sanctuary of peace after a damaged childhood. Nightingale House is almost a much a character as the people who live in it with the secrets it holds.

The Garden of Lost and Found is a stunning read and one I can’t recommend highly enough.  The stories of Juliet, Stella and Libby and the ties that bind them is beautifully told and identifiable.  The attention to detail of Nightingale House and the important painting of The Garden of Lost and Found are brought to life and I felt if I closed my eyes I could see them both in all their glory.  There is no doubt that Harriet Evans is a masterful story teller, her books are always a fantastic read, but for me this is her best book yet.  A sublime and sensational read, so go out and grab yourself a copy, you won’t regret it.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.  If possible please click to share the my review on social media so we can share the book love.

I would also like to thank Headline Review and Anne Cater for inviting me on the blog tour and for my copy of the book in return for an honest review.