Joining the book tour for The Lost Garden launch
Very pleased to join the launch tour for Angela Petch’s newest novel, The Lost Garden. Like me, Petch is an expat who lives in Italy, so I know I’m in good hands for her Italian tales.
I enjoyed Petch’s latest novel, a coming of age tale set in Italy’s Emilia Romagna region in the 1930s. Ernestina (Tina) is a young girl living a sheltered, privileged life in a village castle. Her father, the count, is a staunch Fascist. He is also distant and rigid with her upbringing, including refusing to speak about her mother, who died young.
But when Tina discovers a lost garden, once coaxed to life by her mother, and some pages of her mother’s journal, she begins to discover family secrets long buried, including her mother’s deep connection with the peasant class in which she was raised. This mirrors Tina’s own burgeoning concerns for the villagers suffering under Mussolini’s ambitions, and increasing risks she takes to protect them. I appreciated, too, that a significant part of the story was in the complicated post-war period. Too often stories end on a celebratory note at war’s end, when the post-battle era was often complex and painful, and worthy of exploration.
This is an engaging story about a young woman coming of age in turbulent times, and learning to be brave.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy – all thoughts are my own.
It hides a family secret that could change the course of the war.
Italy, 1930s. Tina lives in the crumbling castle of Montesecco with only her strict father and their maid, Allegra, for company. She’s never been allowed to ask questions about her mother, who died in childbirth. But the day Tina discovers a hidden, crumbling door, everything changes.
Inside is an overgrown garden. Ivy and roses adorn the stone walls. Fresh water springs from a fountain and the scent of wild herbs fills the air. How did she never know this beautiful place existed? Excitedly begging Allegra for answers, the elderly woman’s face turns pale. ‘You must never mention this to your father. It’s not safe. You’ve found your mamma’s garden.’
The Count believes Tina’s mother died because of the garden: but Allegra refuses to say more. Certain she can feel her mother watching over her, Tina secretly tends to the garden herself. And when war breaks out, Tina’s encounters with local resistance fighters mean the garden becomes a place of refuge, a place of hope – and a place of great danger when Tina must prove where her loyalties lie once and for all…Will Tina ever discover the truth about her mother? Or was the garden, with all its secrets, never meant to be disturbed?
An absolutely breathtaking and stunning historical novel about the incredible risks people took in wartime, family secrets, loss and love. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy and Santa Montefiore.
The winter months are spent in Sussex where most of her family live. When she’s not helping out with grandchildren, she catches up with writer friends.
