The Lost Garden is another fine book from Helen Humphreys. It was a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for Canada Reads.
In the spring of 1941, young horticulturist Gwen Davis leaves London for the Devon countryside to manage a group of 'Land Girls' on a slightly rundown estate. The program organized young women volunteers to grow vegetables for the war effort while the men were off fighting. Most of them would rather lay about suntanning or sneak off to the other building on the estate which houses Canadian soldiers awaiting next orders. Gwen befriends Captain Raley, the head of the house, and they organize dances once a week for the girls. And there is Jane, (whose boyfriend is missing in action) who grew up on a farm and whose father was an original gardener on the estate. With Jane's enthusiasm, Gwen slowly motivates the girls - enough that when the potato planting is done, they can rejuvenate the gardens. - Gwen's real passion.
Gwen discovers the original plans for the gardens and features, as well as a secret garden built around the theme of longing and loss - a garden designed to show somebody or remember somebody? - a mystery about who designed it and why she intends to uncover. The girls are organized to clean up and revitalize the surrounding gardens, returning the estate to it's original beauty.
Besides being an interesting historical novel, The Lost Garden is infused with plant meanings and qualities. There are interesting explanations on why certain plants are used in conjunction with each other, the themes plants express, and how a garden can be a work of art - a masterpiece of nature.
There is some drama, and some surprising endings for characters, as Gwen looks towards a future after the war.
If you are a gardener, you will appreciate this novel. It was entertaining and enjoyable throughout. Again, not a long novel, but well written and memorable.
My other reviews for Helen Humphreys:
2003 / Hardcover / 240 pages
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