The Memory Garden

Rachel Hore has made it her speciality to write books which seek to tie together stories from the past with those of today. Writing characters who find solace in their modern lives and dramas through the actions of her characters in the past living similar lives.

In The Memory Garden this formula is used to explore the life of Mel, an art history lecturer who takes a sabbatical to write her first book. Travelling to Cornwall she rents a cottage on the estate of Merryn Hall and meets it's handsome owner Patrick. Working together they begin to restore the gardens of the hall and in doing so discover the paintings and stories of a mysterious new artist.

The book then flashes back to the days of pre WWI and the life of servant at the hall Pearl who leads us through the story of the paintings. It was these parts of the book that I fell in love with and longed for them to be longer and more frequent. They were beautifully written and so evocative of that pre war world.

Hore has written another wonderful book which ties together the worlds of both Mel and Pearl. Using the flashback technique can be tricky though if not one of your stories holds up to the other. You can find yourself longing for more of one whilst feeling tepid about the other. Whilst I could have spent more time with Pearl this wasn't a reflection upon the story of Mel and Patrick, my only criticism being the sight long winded ending. We seemed to take a long time to conclude Mel's story going round one or two too many houses before reaching her end. This was a shame and was where I wishes Pearl could have been more prevalent.

It was a lovely setting for the book, on the Cornish Coast and looking at the world of artistry in the area at that time was wonderful. Hore has again proven she has the capability to enrapture and fully immerse her readers in the past. A wonderful read.