Usually when I write a review, I like to give a brief overview of the characters and the synopsis of the book, however I have found it practically impossible to do this for The Garden Of Lost And Found. Using multiple threads intricately woven together Harriet Evans has created a wonderfully complex story that simply cannot be summed up in a couple of paragraphs. I also wanted to avoid talking at length about the story as it would be incredibly difficult to avoid spoilers!

descriptions of Nightingale House and the flowers in the garden were enjoyable. However other members thought that the author was over descriptive especially when it came to the flower and plants.The immense feeling of place, the slow, irresistible sense of being drawn deep into the family and its story, and the strange hovering of menace somewhere in the idyll. Wonderful' Penny Vincenzi It was a shame as the idea was good, but poorly executed. It didn't grip you, and for a book that length it really does need to. I wasn't sure what kind of book I was reading most of the time - is this a post-modern take on young adult fantasy? Is this gritty urban drama with a twist of C.S. Lewis? Is this gay fiction for people who hate gay fiction? I felt like a sense of wonderment was implied throughout the book, but at the same time I never felt oohed or aahed. Mysterious overtones wafted through the book, but the big reveals always end up feeling more sobering than awe-inspiring. The Garden of Lost and Found is centred around the Horner family and a painting. Ned Horner used to be quite the well-known artist and “The Garden of Lost and Found” was his masterpiece. It captured his children on a beautiful day, playing in the garden of their beloved home, Nightingale House. But in 1919, a few days before his death, Ned destroys the painting.

The title, ‘The Garden of Lost and Found’ actually refers to a painting. It’s a dual time story, beginning in the late 1800s/1900s with the story of Lydia (Liddy) Desart Horner and her family and alternating with a timeframe in 2014 with her great grand-daughter, Juliet Horner. The family home, Nightingale House, is the glue that binds both strands of the story together and is a wonderful character in its own right. 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.Don’t miss the STUNNING new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Harriet Evans –THE BELOVED GIRLS is available to buy now!