Book Description:
Just because you feel ordinary doesn’t mean you aren’t extraordinary to someone else.
Sixty-two-year-old Elsie knows what she likes. Custard creams at four o’clock, jigsaw puzzles with a thousand pieces, her ivy-covered, lavender-scented garden.
Ten-year-old Billy would rather spend his Saturdays kicking a ball, or watching TV, or anything really, other than being babysat by his grumpy neighbour Elsie and being force fed custard creams.
If it was up to them, they’d have nothing to do with each other. Unfortunately, you can’t choose who you live next door to.
But there is always more to people than meets the eye…
Elsie doesn’t know that Billy’s afraid to go to school now, or why his mother woke him up in the middle of the night with an urgent shake, bags already packed, ready to flee their home.
Billy doesn’t know that the rusting red tin he finds buried in Elsie’s treasured garden is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode her carefully organised life. And that when he digs it up, he is unearthing a secret that has lain dormant for twenty-eight years…
This moving tale is for anyone who has ever felt the pang of loneliness, or worried that their broken heart might never be the same again. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Keeper of Lost Things and The Library of Lost and Found will fall head over heels for this life-affirming novel that shows us that if you’re willing to take a risk, happiness is only ever a heartbeat away.
My Thoughts:
Having fallen in love with the authors writing after reading The Wish List, I was very eager to read her latest novel, The Garden Of Lost Memories. Am pleased to say it didn’t disappoint.
This is the story of an unlikely friendship between an elderly spinster, Elsie and her new neighbour’s son, a ten year old boy called Billy. The friendship between these two is a rocky one of sorts. They bond over Elsie’s garden and doing odd jobs in it which I just loved. It was wonderful to see Billy as well as Elsie for that matter, blossoming in each others company. It’s outside of their friendship where the cracks seem to be.
My heart went out to Billy and his mum. A new start away from all his friends is never going to be an easy time for a child as Billy only finds out to well. Many a time I wanted to wrap him up in my arms and give him a great big hug, telling him it was going to be alright.
This is what I love about the authors style of writing. She makes you care about the characters you are reading about and by the end of each book, you feel like you’ve known them for a lifetime as they feel like family or close friends. She effortlessly draws you and keeps you engaged throughout.
The Garden Of Lost Memories was a wonderful read that fully absorbed me. The characters are what makes this authors stories and she writes them so well. They are people that you have empathy for and can relate to as well as wanting good things to happen to. A lovely, heartfelt story that leaves you with a wonderful warm and cosy feeling inside.
The Garden Of Lost Memories is available to purchase from Amazon.
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