Stevie‘s review of A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James
Women’s Fiction published by HQ 30 Mar 23
I’m aware of Erica James as an author name, but this is the first time I’ve picked up one of her books. I was drawn to it both by the era of the most recent portion of the story, 1981, and by the title which hinted at links to Frances Hodgson Burnett (I was wrong about that, but my error didn’t distract me from enjoying the book). As the country prepares to celebrate the Royal Wedding, Libby faces the prospect of cancelling her own after catching her fiancé in bed with her best friend/flatmate/business partner. Distraught, Libby flees to the one place she has always felt safe – Larkspur House, the home of retired garden designer Elfrida Ambrose and her former ladies maid, now long-term friend, Libby’s Great-aunt Bess.
Bess and Elfrida are wonderfully eccentric and do everything they can to distract Libby, even when her plans to document their lives through a collection of old photographs from the attic threaten to reveal old secrets they would rather keep hidden. The 1981 story is intercut with excerpts from Bess and Elfrida’s lives before and after World War II, as we see Elfrida defy conventions, supported, though not always encouraged, by Bess, and watch Bess have her own romances with men she meets on her travels with Elfrida. In both timelines we meet the problematic members of both their families and learn that Libby has other connections to Elfrida, coincidentally, through her former fiancé.
Both Elfrida and Bess have experienced both tragedy and great happiness and have always been able to rely on each other, which is one of the reasons Libby finds their presence so reassuring. She also develops a friendship with a local doctor and is able to enlist his help in her various plans to improve life at Larkspur House for both its elderly inhabitants.
I liked all three women a lot and was pleased to see Libby’s growth through the book as she learns more about the others as well as about herself. This book has a great feel for both eras for me, and I’d definitely like to read more by the author.
Grade: A
Summary:
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.
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.
At Larkspur House, with its magical garden created by renowned garden designer and one-time socialite Elfrida Ambrose, and its comfortingly familiar kitchen presided over by Libby’s great-aunt Bess, she hopes to find a way to put her life back together.
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 unspoken secrets, lost loves, and tragedies…
Read an excerpt.
