2008's The Forgotten Garden is the story of Nell. At four years old, Nell was found on a dock in Queensland, Australia. All she has with her is a white suitcase containing a book of fairy tales. She is clearly not Australian, and when no one comes forward to claim her she is adopted by the dockmaster and his family. In adulthood, Nell is beginning to trace her past when she becomes the unexpected guardian of her granddaughter and must abandon her search. After her death, her granddaughter Cassandra travels to England to find her grandmother's roots. What she finds is a crumbling cottage and more mystery.
The Distant Hours, published in 2010, might be my favorite of Ms. Morton's books. It is the story of Edie and the mother she sees every day, but doesn't really know. It is also the story of the three Blythe sisters. Spinsters who have lived most of their lives together, the elder twins care for their younger sister, Juniper, who has never recovered from her fiancé's betrayal in 1941. Edie discovers that her mother was evacuated to the Blythe's Milderhurst castle during the WWII evacuation of children from London. When her mother will not talk about her history, Edie visits the sisters and discovers that her mother's past is not the only secret the castle is hiding.
Ms. Morton's most recent work is The Secret Keeper, published in 2012. In the 1960's, teenage Laurel witnesses her mother's murder of an unexpected visitor. She has never forgotten what she saw, but 50 years later, she still has no explanation for what happened. Her mother, Dorothy, is on her deathbed, and Laurel begins researching Dorothy's life in pre-WWII London. Who is the mysterious Vivien Jenkins? Henry Jenkins? Jimmy? What happens to them during the war and what role do they all play in the events of the 1960's?
All four books are available at Franklin County Library.
