From the author of the international bestsellers The Light Over
London and The Whispers of War comes "a compelling read, filled with
lovable characters and an alluring twist of fates" (Ellen Keith, author
of The Dutch Wife) about five women living across three different
times whose lives are all connected by one very special garden.
Present day: Emma Lovett, who has dedicated her career to breathing new
life into long-neglected gardens, has just been given the opportunity of
a lifetime: to restore the gardens of the famed Highbury House estate,
designed in 1907 by her hero Venetia Smith. But as Emma dives deeper
into the gardens' past, she begins to uncover secrets that have long
lain hidden.
1907: A talented artist with a growing reputation for her work, Venetia
Smith has carved out a niche for herself as a garden designer to
industrialists, solicitors, and bankers looking to show off their wealth
with sumptuous country houses. When she is hired to design the gardens
of Highbury House, she is determined to make them a triumph, but the
gardens--and the people she meets--promise to change her life 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, on the other hand, is desperate to leave
Highbury House to pursue her own dreams. And widow Diana Symonds, the
mistress of the grand house, is anxiously trying to cling to her pre-war
life now that her home has been requisitioned and transformed into a
convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers. But when war threatens
Highbury House's treasured gardens, these three very different women are
drawn together by a secret that will last for decades.
"Gorgeously written and rooted in meticulous period detail, this novel
is vibrant as it is stirring. Fans of historical fiction will fall in
love with The Last Garden in England" (Roxanne Veletzos, author of
The Girl They Left Behind).
