Escape into a world of beautiful writing with a mesmerising story… meet The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans.

The plot:

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.

As summer soared into the garden and then faded away again, the silken light of golden September giving itself to the mist and damp of autumn and the darkness of winter, the question that had haunted Liddy kept coming back to her.

Do you pay for happiness like that? Perhaps, yes, perhaps you do.

The writing is stunning in this book

The Garden of Lost and Found is a rather lengthy book, and this may seem daunting at first. There are some parts which you’ll just fly through as it’s highly engrossing, but other parts where I found my eyes glazing over as it just felt too wordy.

Saying this, I wouldn’t want any of the descriptions to change, because Evans really paints a picture through her words; not a page went by where I wasn’t imagining a location, person or little things, and I was truly mesmerised by how a scent or colour can be described in such a captivating way.

I found, by the end of the book, that I deeply cared about the main characters. Whilst there are lots of names to remember (and I would’ve loved a family tree to refer back to at confusing times), there’s a hella lot of feeling in these pages. Whether it’s heartbreak, happiness, sadness, hope or dismay, Evans’ writing really drags you into their lives.

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.

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.

A must-read if you are interested in the topics of families. There are some characters and conversations which may make you grind your teeth in anger, especially near the beginning.

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, Harriet Evans, RRP £16.99 (hardback); Book Depository 

Pages: 554

Publisher: Headline Review

Genre: Fiction