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

Product Information

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'? Nightingale House links the generations. It becomes a character in its own right. Harriet Evans painted its picture with her words so that I could ‘see’ the house. I’m definitely going to be looking into other books by Evans, because the writing is stunning in this book. The story opens in 1918 with Liddy Horner as she discovers her renowned artist husband Sir Edward ‘Ned’ Horner burning his best-known painting in an apparent moment of madness. Days later, Ned has died of a fever and Liddy is left alone with a baby. Moving forward in time to 2014, we meet Liddy’s great granddaughter Juliet, an expert in Victorian art, who’s at a crossroads in her life. She’s been pushed out of her job at an auction house, she has a fractured relationship with her husband, and she’s lost the ability to connect with her three children. So when she’s mysteriously sent the key to the dilapidated Nightingale House – Liddy and Ned’s beloved home – she sees it as not only an escape from her crumbling marriage, but a new start for her children too. The plot jumps between the past and present, and I adored this, as I found I was trying to work out the links. It all came together really well, and there were no questions unanswered. However, I did find one diary entry confusing as I couldn’t remember this particular character.

My copy of the book was full of typos and badly formatted. One word on a line and then when conversations were going on, both on the same line. Confusing, but maybe that will be sorted for the production copy. Another big bug bear is lots of use of Italics. Very difficult to read for some people. The book also finished rather abruptly, and felt very odd. Enjoyable lightweight easy read - family saga spanning more than a century and set around Nightingale house- which is almost a character in itself.' One set of characters lived through World War I. It was billed as ‘exciting’ and ‘an adventure’. The reality was a bloodbath, from which, if you survived would haunt you for the rest of your life. 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.Escape into a world of beautiful writing with a mesmerising story… meet The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans. One of Evans’ great talents, and indeed one of the great pleasures of this book, is how seamlessly she intertwines the past and the present; the events of over a hundred years ago still sending ripples through the generations. The story moves through the decades, painting a beautiful historical picture that ends in tragedy and takes us all the way through to Juliet frantically trying to hold her life together in any way she can. Nightingale House is at the very centre of the story and it’s a character in itself: enchanting, haunting and full of secrets, mysteries and memories. Hunstanworth Village Hall Bookgroup review: Seven members read this book. All finished and enjoyed it. The Garden of Lost and Found is one of those stories that you could lose yourself in for hours. There are family secrets to be discovered and surprises along the way. I loved it and think it’s probably one of my favourite books by Harriet Evans so far.

A man inherits a valuable piece of Manhattan real estate, leading to unexpected consequences, in this “strange and wonderful novel” (Joseph O’Neill, author of Netherland ). Almost a century later, Horner's great-granddaughter Juliet inherits Nightingale House, now weighed down with unspoken secrets. Why would Ned Horner destroy The Little Birds - the thing he loved best? And can art historian Juliet untangle the web of passion and tragedy in his life and her own to discover the answer? When Liddy was a child, always afraid, she had dreamed of her own home, hidden away where no-one could find her. When she could be safe. Then Ned brought her here and for a few years everything had been perfect. It's mostly set in two times and from two points of view although there are letters and chapters which span the intervening years and characters. Liddy and her great grand daughter, Juliet are the main narrators, Liddy the wife of a great Victorian painter, Juliet an art historian, specialising in late Victorian and Edwardian painting. After her marriage breaks down, Juliet takes her children to Nightingale House, Liddy's beloved home and that of her mother's before her, to recuperate. But the house is full of ghosts and secrets. Why did her great grandfather burn his greatest painting? What caused the rift between her grandmother and father? And how did her life take such a wrong turn?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.

Whether Ned’s masterpiece – or, in Juliet’s case, her own children’s happiness. Something shattered this corner of paradise. But what?Harriet Evans brings her readers home:‘Heart-stopping and wonderful’ Sophie Kinsella’Harriet Evans is my favourite author’ Goodreads’Secrets and lies in a gorgeous idyllic setting’ Prima’Reminiscent of Santa Montefiore with the emotional heart of Jojo Moyes. Don’t miss the STUNNING new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Harriet Evans –THE BELOVED GIRLS is available to buy now! This was my first Harriet Evans book, recommended to me as an audiobook after my mum loved it, so I thought I’d give it a go. I don’t usually reach for historical fiction, but this crossed into the modern world too, sharing the story between Juliet in present-day and Liddy in the early 1900s. It is all centred around a painting by Liddy’s husband, The Garden of the Lost and Found, that is said to have been destroyed. Liddy is also the great grandmother of our present-day protagonist Juliet. So there’s a family link, and also a love of art as Juliet works for art galleries. The Garden of Lost and Found is an evocative family saga full of love, loss, history and art that slowly draws you into its characters’ lives and makes you care about them. The perfect ingredients for a screen adaptation… Despite having had The Wildflowers on my shelf for the longest time, this was my first introduction to Harriet Evans. I really enjoyed her writing style as it’s beautifully descriptive. At times it felt as if I was right there at Nightingale House, hearing the rain patter on the windows, smelling the glorious scents from the garden, maybe even hear a mouse skitter across the floorboards.The novel follows the generations of a family from 1880-1918 and then in present day. The bonds between a granddaughter and a grandmother are strong, surviving the grave. This is another novel with many twists and turns along the way as the story unfolds, and is told from various perspectives. Some of our group preferred the modern story, some the older one, but we all agreed that the novel had a good and gripping plot and was well written, although we felt that an actual family tree, rather than just a list of the children, would have been helpful. 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.