Book Review: "The Last Garden" In England By Julia Kelly

 

Enchanting! Engrossing! Captivating! Fulfilling!

This newest creation by Julia Kelly had engulfed me with so many emotional responses between womanhood, the powers that be, the long awaited restoration of these luscious gardens and so much more.

The story plays out with Emma Lovett a garden restoration expert at Highbury House Estate in the early 1900's in England. 

The process is tedious, time consuming, and expertly crafted to include additional characters such as Venetia Smith n artist and garden designer that had such a powerful story to tell with Matthew's handiwork being the center of the attraction.

As we proceed further we uncover the magic of 1944 with Beth Pedly and Graeme Wantsz on the farm where she sought shelter along with Cook Stella as she was known who wants to leave the area.

Plenty of others like Diana the mistress of grand house is included with another young man named Bobby who she becomes entwined with in the story.

The story is not all roses and rainbows so don't be led off into this enchantment thinking this is a strong romance but also of the power of perseverance, tenacity, character, and the will power to survive the greatest obstacles of family, love, relationships, and forgiveness.

It's a roller coaster of wonderment as we grow with these lovely ladies and uncover long buried secrets hidden in and around this garden of beauty.

Surely, miscarriages, adoption, aliases, affairs, and the like are not what one would come to expect in a historical fiction or romance piece but this has the earmark for greatness and in so choosing such it's full of surprises, mystery, and intrigue.

One can't help but fall in love with everything that is placed before us as it's a sort of Celestial Connection and so Celeste's Garden came to be known. 

However, there's much pain, heartbreak, war torn stories, and trauma that many of these characters must face and process. That challenge was excruciatingly painful to read and harder to bare yet, one must carry on with the inner strength to see beyond the immediate and reflect upon the past misgivings.

Thank you to Julia Kelly, the publisher, NetGalley, and Amazon Kindle for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.