The Rose Garden
Susanna Kearsley
488 pages
Hard copy edition
From the Publisher:
Eva returns to the only place that has ever felt like home, but she quickly discovers she is not alone in the old house on the Cornwall coast. The past reaches out to touch the present in this beautiful love story and haunting mystery.
“Whatever time we have,” he said, “it will be time enough.”
Eva Ward returns to the only place she truly belongs, the old house on the coast of Cornwall, England, seeking happiness in memories of childhood summers.
There she finds mysterious voices and hidden pathways that sweep her not only into the past, but also into the arms of a man who is not of her time.
But Eva must confront her own ghosts, as well as those of long ago. As she begins to question her place in the present, she comes to realize that she too must decide where she really belongs.
A modern gothic historical fiction with elements of time travel, reincarnation, and romance from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Susanna Kearsley.
Review:
One of my best friends loaned me this book and she always has the best suggestions. In fact, this is the second book by Susanna Kearlsey that she has loaned me. She knows how to pick good ones:) I’ve just been in a bit of a reading slump this month, so it took me a lot longer to get through this book than normal. (and even longer to post about it) But I still did enjoy the novel! Kearlsey really weaves a magical story and has amazing descriptions. I love how she can mix present day and the past. I’m not sure I would really consider this book Gothic – like it is suggested in the publishers description, but it does have lots of time travel and twists. If you have read Kearlsey before you know what to expect – she has a great ability to mix ghosts, the past and romance together, that is so hard to describe, but so nice to read.
I do find her books a tab bit slow – and combine with my reading slump, it was a bad combo for this book. But the ending was worth sticking it through. It really had some surprises that I didn’t see coming. I will be reading more of her books. I know they area bit slower, but worth it in the end. I suppose not every book needs to be rushed.
I find it hard to describe some read-a-likes for this book, but two that come to mind (beside any of her her other books) would be: any book by Kate Morton, and The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin.
For slowness factor (although I’m not 100% convinced that is a bad thing) I would maybe give this book a slightly lower star – somewhere between 4.5 and 5…so 4.75 🙂
It’s a good one. Enjoy it!
Final Score:
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