Bookish Gardening

Submitted: 3rd May 2026

Gardening via a book

Some people find gardening relaxing. Others find gardens relaxing. Those who prefer the second might want to grab a cuppa and settle down on a blanket with this garden that has been forgotten if the title is to be believed…

The Forgotten Garden – and paper quilling tree (c) TheBookTrail

The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton

The Forgotten Garden linked to a house in Cornwall has been left to rack and ruin and the vines and tree branches protect its secrets. They unfurl to reveal the past and the connections between people and places that might not seem connected at first. This garden is magical and eerie all at once:

“A full moon meant that the room wasn’t completely dark. A silvery film spilled across every surface, smooth and dull like wax gone cool”

The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton

Two children played in that house and garden – one rich, one poor, and their imaginary worlds mixed with that garden’s real and very evocative pleasure. How this garden in Cornwall is linked to a woman now in Australia is a fairy tale with gothic leanings, Grimm style atmosphere and a treasure chest full of family secrets. And the thread that hangs everything together – a wonderfully evocative book of fairytales mixing the magical and real worlds in one fantastic storytelling bow.

This book is very reminiscent of A Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett for the magical and garden imagery it conjures. The time, space and freedom we all feel in childhood and only recognise when we grow up.

Utterly magical on every level.

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