The Lavender Garden is a touching and interesting story of two families coming together, in the past and semi-present, with heroics in one generation and a mystery in the other. We go back and forth from the present to the past in alternating sections, watching Emilies journey of growing up as she learns about the activities of her family in France during World War II. Despite being from an important family, Emilie doesnt know much about her history, and it turns out, herself either...

To read the rest of my review, please click here.

Share/Like this Review?

I devoured this book: I LOVED the ending, I couldn't get enough of it. It's a wonderful story with twists and turns and a ending that gave me goose bumps and tears. All I can say is I didn't get any work done when I read it! EXCELLENT!

Share/Like this Review?

THE LAVENDER GARDEN is a sweeping, layered and sophisticated dual narrative I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend!

(Kate Morton take notes--this is how it's done!)

At the outset, I admit I wasn't impressed. It took a good 50-60 pages before I really got pulled into this story. The 1998 character, Emilie, was too dumb for words. I'll just leave it at that. But I was very pleasantly surprised with how things turned out for everyone by the end. Even had tears in my eyes!

Things weren't all that much better with the 1944 main character, Constance. I wasn't 100% happy with her character much of the time, but again, the author was quite skillful and things came together quite nicely in the end.

I know Kate Morton is a commercial favorite, however, if you enjoy the dual narrative style and are looking for higher quality plotting, I highly recommend THE LAVENDER GARDEN.

While the story started a bit slow for me, the writing feeling almost like a translation in the early chapters, the tone improves pretty dramatically before too long and things certainly pick up. I think the shift was meant to mirror the characters' evolution...and I simply ADORED the ending! A-

Share/Like this Review?

I totally enjoyed The Lavender Garden, a story about an insecure woman who discovers how strong she can be. Emilie's life changed dramatically with the death of her mother and she realizes that she is the sole surviving family member. Her mother's death evoked many feelings, many of which were very painful. Emilie, an introvert, had distanced herself from her outgoing social Mother and chose to live a quiet life. Her story is touching and reminded me of people I know.

When Emelie meets Sebastian who loves her for who she is, she ccepts his attentions which are validated by a link between her family and his. His grandmother, Constance, knew her family during WW II and Emelie's interest French activites grow. She discovers that her father was a brave man who worked with the resistance. The novel moves from that past to Emelie's present.

Emelie learns that Constance was an English woman trained to work with the resistance. She was sent to France but found that her contacts had been arrested. Her last hope was, Edouard de la Martinieres, Emelie's father. Unfortunately, she arrived when he is entertaining high ranking Germans. Forced to assume the identity of a family member, she cannot complete her assignment because the Germans now know her face.

Yes, Emilie is naive and all too trusting but I was delighted when she learned to cope with the decisions she makes and move on. I cheered when she discovered Sebastion's real motives for showering her with attention. And, I loved the WWII sections that revealed the life that Emelie's father and Constance led during the war. These sections demonstrated the dedication of so many who resisted the Nazi occupation of France. I thought it was a wonderful read from both viewpoints.

Share/Like this Review?