The Garden of Lost and Found: The gripping tale of the power of family love

Product Information

This book met very mixed reactions from our group. Many felt it as too busy with too many characters who were not properly realised.

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 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. I’m definitely going to be looking into other books by Evans, because the writing is stunning in this book. The Garden of Lost and Found shines light on the different issues different generations face, intertwined with historical fiction and art, handled in such a beautifully delicate way.

The characters were confusing, who was related to whom. I didn't particularly like any of them, none of them stood out. All this, my love, darling etc became rather nauseous after a while.

James Ramsay is twenty-one years old and he has just inherited a building in New York City. After the death of his estranged mother, he finds that he is now the owner of No. 1 Dutch Street—a five-story brownstone near the World Trade Center. I've been totally absorbed by Harriet Evans's recent family sagas, especially The Butterfly Summer and The Wildflowers, so I found The Garden of Lost and Found to be a real disappointment, despite its beautiful cover. The novel switches between two intertwined timelines; in the present day, Juliet, working at an art dealer's, loses her job at the same time that her marriage falls apart. Unexpectedly inheriting her family's ancestral home, where the Edwardian painter Ned Horner produced his most famous work, offers her a lifeline - but what family secrets will she uncover? In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, two sisters, Liddy and Mary, suffer in an oppressive household, until Liddy's marriage to the painter, Ned Horner, offers them a way out. But why will Ned ultimately burn his most significant painting, 'The Garden of Lost and Found'?

Throughout reading The Garden of the Lost and Found, I felt swept away by the atmosphere the writing created. The story was all set in London and the English Countryside, which was a lovely, familiar setting. There is a big house at the centre of both timelines, Nightingale House, which both characters live in at some point. I really enjoyed reading about this quaint house and loved discovering more hidden features of it. Harriet writes the most delicious, epic stories from the heart since Maeve Binchy and Kate Morton. 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. This book has taken me nearly two months to read, which is totally shameful for me, despite the fact I didn't love the book, I usually wrap things up faster than that. The Garden of Lost and Found is a book I bought on a whim, purely because of the beautiful cover, and, because I adore books set around gardens, and even grand old buildings.As I've said on here before I a. have loved Harriet Evans books since her very first b. Adore books centred around big houses and c. love family secrets so The Garden of Lost and Found was pretty much reading catnip. Expectations were high and more than met - The Garden of Lost and Found is an emotional, compelling and absorbing read and (to me) a thoughtful examination of marriage, motherhood, and the search for self set in a world of Victorian art and modern day art history, a world of which I know very little but enjoyed discovering. The Garden of the Lost and Found, Harriet Evans Themes: Fiction, Historical, Contemporary Reading Format: Audiobook 4 STARS // 7.5 CAWPILE I loved the rich detail of this story – the vivid descriptions of the house and gardens, the well developed characters, the trials and tribulations they faced, it was captivating. There must have been quite a lot of research which has gone into this book and it shows in the detail with various historical references. One thing I especially enjoyed were scenes involving the dolls house, which was made for Liddy and is a replica of Nightingale House. I’ve always been fascinated by dolls house and the detailed miniatures for them.