by Kelly Burton

Created on: July 10, 2009

Plot....

1913 - Maryborough Wharf, Australia
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A four year old girl is discovered abandoned after a voyage from England. She doesn't know her name or remember anything from her journey, only that a woman she calls the Authoress was supposed to look after her - but the authoress is no where to be seen.

1975 - Cornwall, England
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The four year old girl is now an old lady and determined to find out what happened to her all those years ago. She decides to travel from Brisbane to Cornwall to discover her real family in an estate called Blackhurst Manor owned by the Mountrachet family.

2005 - Brisbane, Australia & Cornwall, England
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Nell has passed away but her mystery lives on as her only granddaughter, Cassandra receives a surprise inheritance in the form of mystery of Nell's abandonment at the Wharf in Australia all those years ago. Cassandra's hunt also leads her to the Mountrachet family in Cornwall, but its to a long ago abandoned cottage and its forgotten garden. Will Cassandra uncover the truth about Nell's life that Nell couldn't quite uncover in her lifetime?

Review...

Although I thoroughly enjoyed "The House At Riverton", I didn't think I'd really enjoy any other books by the author Kate Morton, so imagine my surprise when I started reading this one! Not only did I enjoy it, but I found it a better read!

As I mentioned in my review of "The House of Riverton", the main difficulty of this book was how slow I found it to get into the book. Thankfully, in this one, I was immediately drawn in to the story and it was instantly intriguing. Like the summary suggests, the story is told from different times and in different countries, and during this, it is also told from different points of view. In 1913 and before, a lot of the story is told from the point of view of Eliza Makepeace, or as she is known to the little abandoned girl, "The Authoress". I found this a particularly fascinating part of the book, as I enjoyed the descriptions and peek at life in London slums during the 19th Century. This part of the book conjured up lots of really vivid images and created a fascinating background for Eliza to grow up in. Not only this, Eliza's story was sad and heart warming, and I thought that her character was well drawn.

In fact, all of the characters were well drawn. In providing different time lines and different characters perspectives, Morton stops this book from ever being described as boring or slow going. I loved the constant change of pace that

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