The Forgotten Garden, an Overlooked Book
Over and over again, I saw Kate Morton’s House at Riverton lurking on the general fiction shelves at Half Price Books. I never picked it up, the cover just wasn’t right. Book jackets are magical things. Between the author, the publishig company, brilliant marketing people, and the perception of the onlookers – a book jacket tells all. The House at Riverton just wasn’t telling me what I wanted to hear. Then one day, my boss waves The Forgotten Garden in front of my face. “This is amazing.” It looked amazing. The antique cream color, the ivy, the fairies, the magical nostalgia of a Frances Hodgson Burnett novel… I desired it immediately. I was dumbstruck to realize it was the same author.
The Forgotten Garden is beautiful. Twins, secrets, best friends, a family saga, England, Australian, painters, storytellers, an authoress, spooky deaths… It was the perfect mood follow up to The Thirteenth Tale. It was an amazing read. It took me too long to discover it due to the terrible marketing of the author’s previous book. Thank God, the publisher’s finally gave Morton’s writing her book cover art due.
If you are wondering, I have broken protocol and abandoned my book cover instincts for the sake of reading Morton’s previous work – I bought The House at Riverton and its horrible cover. I plan to read it around Christmas, a review to follow. Her third book, Th Distant Hour is scheduled for me to read Spring 2012.
Anakalian Whims 