Review: The Garden of Lost Secrets

The Garden of Lost Secrets by A M Howell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clara is staying with her aunt and uncle while her father recovers from a gas attack during the Great War. She remembers them as kind figures, joking and laughing, but the two bleak, strained adults who take her in are almost strangers. They both work for an Earl and while Clara tries to make herself helpful in the grounds and their tiny cottage, she notices some things that don't quite add up...

This would be a fantastic additional novel for a class studying the First World War, as it deals with how things were going in Britain with most of the men away. It also talks about something I had never known; England's farmers were growing pineapples in hothouses! It's interesting to learn about the different types. The writing is so atmospheric it's like being there, in the damp warm hothouses and the damp, freezing coal cellars.

I want to mention the writing again, as it is amazing. Crows bustled in the sky like black handkerchiefs is just one example of this, keeping the lines perfectly readable but still very evocative.

I recommend this to anyone at all interested in the War or in a good mystery story.


I received a proof copy which did not affect my review in any way.


The windows rattled gently in the wind. A scuffle on the gravel outside.

"What was that?" whispered Will.

Another scuffle.

Clara's breath caught in her throat.

A scrabbling, sniffing noise just beyond the glass.

"An animal - a rat maybe," Will whispered. "On the hunt for some food." He brought his hands to his cheeks and twitched his fingers like whiskers.

Clara rolled her eyes, smiling. The weight of her secret felt a fraction lighter now that she had shared it. She focused on one of the pineapples, sitting proudly in its planting bed, the thin crown of leaves, the quilted fruit. Will was right. She should open the envelope. She would open the envelope. But once she did, she knew that things would be different. And sitting there, in the warmth, listening to the drip-drip-drip of condensation, a new friend by her side, she wasn't so sure she wanted things to change just yet.

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