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As you can imagine, the secrets all have emotional punches so be prepared to feel a host of emotions! Another heartbreaking but glorious tale of secrets and love from the Sunday Times bestselling author Erica James…
A Secret Garden Affair - Historical Novel Society A Secret Garden Affair - Historical Novel Society
The protagonist of this novel is Libby who seeks refuge, after learning that her fiancé has cheated on her, with her elderly relative Bess and Bess’ lifelong friend Elfrida, whence we encounter secrets, deception, heartbreak, loyalty and love. A brilliant storyline by one of my favourite authors. A Secret Garden Affair for me is the type of novel that I enjoy reading as it allows you to see Elfrida and Bess as two old ladies which Libby sees them as now, Then Allows both the reader and other characters to find out about their lives and the decisions they made during events and the repercussions that comes down the generations. Having caught her own fiancé in bed with her best friend just weeks before they were due to marry, she’s fled London for the comfort of the Suffolk countryside. Tragedy , loves and secrets accumulate over the years and when Libby arrives from London in a vulnerable state it seems a good time to try to confront the issues of the past. Set in the 1970s in the summer of Charles and Diana’s wedding, I found it unusual that the ‘present day’ was still fifty years in the past. On reflection, I think this is intended to highlight the limited choices that women still faced with employment. Attending secretarial school and being office assistants was still an accepted role with the men usually in more dominant careers. Being a woman in the 1970s still meant being there for the husband and creating the perfect family home. Therefore, when Libby’s engagement ends along with her self-employed business share with her ex-best friend, she finds herself drawn to Bess and Elfrida, the constants in her life.But for lifelong friends Bess and Elfrida, Libby's arrival has stirred up the ghosts of the past. And before they can help her rebuild her shattered future, they must confront their own secrets, lost loves, and tragedies… A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James tells the story of Liby shortly before her wedding in 1981 she finds her fiance in bed with her best friend. However instead of going to her mum's house she escapes to her great-aunt Bess. July 1981. As the country prepares to celebrate Prince Charles’ wedding to Lady Diana, Libby wants to be as far away from royal wedding fever as possible. Larkspur House felt like a character to me. It wrapped its magic around me (much like it did to Libby and Daniel) and I felt sad when I had to say goodbye. When Libby finds her fiance Marcus in bed with her best friend Selina three weeks before her wedding, she flees London for the sanctuary of Larkspur House in Suffolk where her Great Aunt Bess lives with her friend Elfrida.
A Secret Garden Affair – HarperCollins A Secret Garden Affair – HarperCollins
The RRP is the suggested or Recommended Retail Price of a product, set by the publisher or manufacturer. The storyline covers a lot of ground not least with Elfrida’s gardening but we also see Love, Loss, devastation and numerous secrets that look set to rear their ugly heads. This really was a quaint and charming read with exceptional detail which made everything so easily to visualise. Staying with her aunt Bess and Alfreda, she starts to mend her broken heart, deciding what to do with the rest of her life. There is a beautiful friendship between two ladies that has lasted almost a lifetime. Over the years they have shared each other’s confidences and kept each others secrets.July, 1981. The country is working itself into a frenzy in the run-up to the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, but the last thing Libby wants to think about is weddings. Having just discovered, three weeks before their wedding, that her fiancé Marcus has been sleeping with her best friend Selina, Libby heads for the comforting presence of Larkspur House, the home of famous garden designer Elfrida Ambrose and Libby's great-aunt Bess - the only place where she has ever felt truly at home. Erica James does this by having the main story take place during the Summer of 1981 at a time when the then Prince Charles was marrying his first wife Lady Diana Spencer, which gave the novel a fixed period in time. You really get a sense with these women that they're having to deal with losing trust in people and are fearful of being deceived again, which makes it very difficult to move on and trust new people that come into their lives. I really loved the setting as the house and gardens are very much part of them as people and a place where they feel safe to start the trust process and dealing with the personal tragedies that they have faced.
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