Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The several POVs and timelines made it hard to get into reading. However, I DEVOURED the last 75 or so pages. I loved the characters, I loved their stories, I teared up many a time❤️ Beautifully done, would love to do a re-read in the future now that I know the whole story too
Perfectly pleasant book. I love plants and flowers and gardens. I’m not sure why, but it took me forever to read this book though. Not sure if I was in a little reading shlump or if this book put me there?
This would be a good book club pick as there are multiple main characters and time periods, so everyone will have their favorites. Sometimes the plot got a little maudlin, but overall, it was an enjoyable demonstration of how our human urge to harness nature and beautify our surroundings is part of a bigger need to create our identities.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
A story about three generations of women tied together by a garden.
Great concept but better in theory than in practice. So, so many characters and too many POVs. It's very cluttered and hard to follow. Even when you're reading the same timeline, and you shift between characters, they use different names for each other (i.e., servant POV calls nobility and peers Mrs. or Miss so and so. You have to know all the characters first and last names, jobs and titles).
I felt that there was good chemistry between the modern timeline between Emma, the garden designer and Henry the farmer. But also very strange that this book took place in 2020 or 2021 but there's no mention of the global pandemic. It took me out a bit. Set it in 2019! The 1940s timeline is a big ole snoozefest, I had zero investment in the triangle between Beth and Captain Hastings and the dude she was writing. The turn of the century timeline with Venetia and Matthew fell short for me as well. I had a very hard time believing anyone would care what an independent gentleman of no title or property inheritance did or who he married.
There just weren't very high stakes. Maybe I could have rooted for a character or two, but I lost track as to why. It was well written but incredibly indulgent in the lengthy description of gardens.
I hovered between two and three stars but ultimately rounded down to two for pointless child death. It was a pointless plot twist that didn't move the story at all.
Great concept but better in theory than in practice. So, so many characters and too many POVs. It's very cluttered and hard to follow. Even when you're reading the same timeline, and you shift between characters, they use different names for each other (i.e., servant POV calls nobility and peers Mrs. or Miss so and so. You have to know all the characters first and last names, jobs and titles).
I felt that there was good chemistry between the modern timeline between Emma, the garden designer and Henry the farmer. But also very strange that this book took place in 2020 or 2021 but there's no mention of the global pandemic. It took me out a bit. Set it in 2019! The 1940s timeline is a big ole snoozefest, I had zero investment in the triangle between Beth and Captain Hastings and the dude she was writing. The turn of the century timeline with Venetia and Matthew fell short for me as well. I had a very hard time believing anyone would care what an independent gentleman of no title or property inheritance did or who he married.
There just weren't very high stakes. Maybe I could have rooted for a character or two, but I lost track as to why. It was well written but incredibly indulgent in the lengthy description of gardens.
I hovered between two and three stars but ultimately rounded down to two for pointless child death. It was a pointless plot twist that didn't move the story at all.
Present day: Emma Lovett, is given the opportunity of a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate. But as Emma dives deeper into the gardens’ past, she uncovers secrets that have long lain hidden.
1907: A talented artist with a growing reputation for her ambitious work, Venetia Smith has carved out a niche for herself as a garden designer to the high society set. When she is hired to design the gardens of Highbury House, her life is changed forever.
1944: When land girl Beth Pedley arrives at a farm on the outskirts of the village of Highbury, all she wants is to find a place she can call home. Cook Stella Adderton is desperate to leave Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds, the mistress of the grand house, is trying to cling to her pre-war life now when the war department requisitions her home. Then tragedy strikes.
This was a delightful summer read. The Land Girls meets Downtown Abbey with some Hallmark Channel thrown in for good measure. A little sappy in parts, you know, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl again, but it was a pleasant change of pace. The Last Garden in England is the kind of book that makes you sigh when you read the last page. Sometimes books set in multiple time periods stumble, but Julia Kelly connected the separate storylines well. The gardening detail was too much for me, but if you are a flower gardener, you are really going to love it. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
1907: A talented artist with a growing reputation for her ambitious work, Venetia Smith has carved out a niche for herself as a garden designer to the high society set. When she is hired to design the gardens of Highbury House, her life is changed forever.
1944: When land girl Beth Pedley arrives at a farm on the outskirts of the village of Highbury, all she wants is to find a place she can call home. Cook Stella Adderton is desperate to leave Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds, the mistress of the grand house, is trying to cling to her pre-war life now when the war department requisitions her home. Then tragedy strikes.
This was a delightful summer read. The Land Girls meets Downtown Abbey with some Hallmark Channel thrown in for good measure. A little sappy in parts, you know, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl again, but it was a pleasant change of pace. The Last Garden in England is the kind of book that makes you sigh when you read the last page. Sometimes books set in multiple time periods stumble, but Julia Kelly connected the separate storylines well. The gardening detail was too much for me, but if you are a flower gardener, you are really going to love it. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.