The Last Garden in England

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly 368 pages

Author Kelly employs one of my favorite plot devices, in this, her third novel: dueling timelines. Most writers use only tow, but Kelly has stretched her writing skills by having three timelines: present day, 1944 and 1907. She does a wonderful job in keeping the characters individualized with the descriptions, but I had a hard time with their voices---all three sounded similar. This caused an occasional problem for me as I sometimes forgot whose story was being told. However, the descriptions of the times and other characters involved held ground me.

The first plotline/character we meet is Emma. Her firm has been hired to restore the garden to Scotland’s Highbury House to its original grandeur. The garden hasn’t been maintained and is grossly overgrown.

The second character is Venetia Smith in 1907. She was hired by the original owners to design the garden in the formal English style. She lays it out in a series of “rooms,” different areas for different emotions…like the Children’s Garden, The Poet’s Corner, the Winter Garden, etc. Interesting enough, Venetia is based on a real-life designer, one that Emma holds in the highest esteem.

The third plotline is 1944. Actually there are three women in this section: Highbury House’s mistress and its cook plus a “land girl,” come to work the land since all the men were off to war.

Three generations of women plan and care for the garden, each with her own story. I found Venetia’s story the most compelling. In the early 20^th century there were not many women who owned a business. Second, I found the discovery of Venetia’s original plans in the present day the highlight of the novel. It had the most tension and the most excitement.

The Last Garden in England is touted as for fans of Kate Morton’s novel, The Lake House, but I don’t feel it even comes close. The tension was sporadic, and I still don’t understand the title. Therefore, The Last Garden in England receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

Paris Never Leaves You

 

Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman  368 pages

Ages ago, I read author Ellen Feldman’s “Lucy,” and it was a wonderful read.  I’m sorry to say tht I haven’t read any of her five books since then, but I plan to rectify that soon. In this, her sixth, novel, Feldman deals with a form of PTSD as invoked by the title.  Charlotte can never forget what happened in Paris during the Nazi Occupation. Her daughter, Vivi, was barely a toddler, but the events of those extraordinary times also seem to prey on her.

The novel opens in Paris, in 1944. Charlotte and other Jews are ripping the stars from their clothing.  Paris had been liberated and with it the camps. But the opening scene turns frightful when an angry mob attacks a woman known as a collaborator.

The scene then shifts to New York, 1954 (I love dueling timeline!). Charlotte is a book editor at the prestigious  publishing house of Gibbon & Field. The “Field” is none other than Horace Field, one of Charlotte and Vivi’s sponsors, which allowed them to come to America.

A letter, not the first, has arrived at Charlotte’s desk. She’s on her way to a meeting and slips it into the trash. Readers don’t know who it is from and Charlotte’s apprehension regarding opening it foreshadows the fear she feels that her past is about to come for its revenge.

One of the things that I admired most about this novel was the seemless transition between Charlotte’s life as a bookseller in Occupied Paris to her contemporary circumstances without using chapter breaks.

In Paris, Charlotte is managing a bookstore with ther friend and the store owner, Simeone. Many think they are sisters, but they are not. One afternoon a Nazi officer comes into the bookstore, just browsing. Fear races through Charlotte’s veins, but she manages to stay calm.  That officer’s arrival will have implications in her life forever.

I don’t want to give too much away, and I was surpised that there was no synopsis on the book’s cover. But as Feldman weaves her story, she drops little bombshells ar just the right time to make this reader sit up straighter and stay up way past her bedtime. Even when I thought the book was going to plateau, another little bomb oes off, and I’m up even later. Therefore, “Paris Never Leaves You” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.