The Forgotten Garden

Cassandra is Nell’s granddaughter. When she is 10 years old, her mother abandons her on Nell’s doorstep. Nell thinks Cassandra is a pretty child: “There was an underlying seriousness, somber blue eyes whose edges turned down and a pretty mouth that Nell suspected might be glorious if she ever smiled with unwary joy” (65). Nell raises Cassandra, who later becomes a partner in Nell’s antique business. When Nell dies and leaves Cassandra the Cliff Cottage in Cornwall, Cassandra completes Nell’s quest to find out her identity. In the process, Cassandra finds a new identity for herself and a bright future on the opposite side of the world. 

Eliza is the daughter of a Mountrachet heiress who married disastrously for love. She is attractive with rose-gold hair like her mother’s and captures the unwanted attention of her mother’s brother. After being raised in a London slum, Eliza is restored to her family but never fits in. She grows up to become a successful author of fairy tales. Devoted to her cousin Rose, Eliza even conceives a child—Nell—on Rose’s behalf because her cousin is sterile. Only after her daughter’s birth does Eliza belatedly realize how difficult it will be to let her child go. Through a series of mishaps, Nell is left alone on board a ship bound for Australia, and Eliza loses her life trying to reach her daughter before the ship sails. 

Rose is Eliza’s cousin and Nell’s aunt. She is beautiful with dark hair, pale skin, and red lips. Eliza thinks she looks like a fairy tale princess. The two girls meet when both are 11, and they become inseparable. Rose has always suffered from ill health, but Eliza exerts a positive influence that pulls Rose out of her sickroom. More than anything else, Rose wants a husband and children. Although she finds a husband, Rose is devastated when she realizes she can’t have children. She appeals to Eliza for help in fulfilling her dearest wish with disastrous consequences for them both. 

Adeline is married to Lord Linus and tries to disguise her humble origins by acting the role of the perfect lady of the manor: “Her face was like that in a painting. Skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, eyes of palest blue” (195). Adeline takes an instant dislike to Eliza, while Eliza sees Adeline as the Evil Queen of her fairy tales. Though cold and manipulative, Adeline will do anything to make her daughter Rose happy. This includes tolerating Eliza, allowing a marriage to Nathaniel, and encouraging him to father a child with Eliza for Rose. Like the Evil Queen in all fairy tales, Adeline receives a fitting comeuppance for her misdeeds.  

Linus is born with one leg shorter than the other and possesses a cowardly temperament. Both his parents despise him, and the only person who shows him kindness is his sister, Georgiana. Linus forms an unnatural attachment to her and spends most of his time taking her photograph. When Linus slashes Georgiana’s throat for wanting to elope with another man, she flees. Linus spends the rest of his life trying to recapture her, then Eliza, and finally Nell. He loses his sanity and his fortune in this fruitless pursuit.

Nathaniel is a tall, handsome, dark-haired artist who comes from a humble family, and Rose falls instantly in love with him. Because Adeline can’t prevent her daughter’s marriage to a starving artist, she orchestrates a successful career for Nathaniel as a portrait painter. Although he rises to prominence, Nathaniel’s heart isn’t in his work. He prefers to sketch illustrations for Eliza’s fairy stories. Because Nathaniel loves Rose, he is willing to father a child with Eliza for his wife’s sake. This decision proves as disastrous for him as for everyone else concerned. 

Christian is a handsome, brown-haired, brown-eyed gardener who assists Cassandra in clearing the forgotten garden. The two feel a kinship because they both suffered emotional losses as children. A former doctor, Christian provides a vital clue about Rose’s medical condition that helps Cassandra solve the riddle of Nell’s past. By the end of the book, Christian becomes Cassandra’s love interest and convinces her to stay with him in Cornwall.