THE ROSE GARDEN (Susanna Kearsley)

I originally chose this book because it had two of my favorite elements: an ancient family mansion on the coast of Cornwall and mysterious voices from the past. I was a great fan of both Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt back in the day and I still remember the Cornish prefixes, tre-, pol-, and pen-, and the magic associated with Cornwall. The main story takes place at Trelowarth, an estate in the fictional Cornish town of Polgelly and the scene of many happy childhood memories for Eva Ward. It is currently the home of Trelowarth Roses, a business originally started by George Hallett, a friend of Eva's late father. Eva's old friends Mark and Susan Hallett and their step-mother, Claire, welcome Eva to Trelowarth with open arms when she returns after 20 years in North America to scatter her sister's ashes from the Cornish cliffs.

The first line of the novel immediately sets the mysterious mood: "I lost my only sister in the last days of November." Kearsley's writing is magical and the sense of place that she creates is haunting. I wasn't sure about the time travel aspect of the story. I normally associate time travel with fantasy and science fiction, but here it felt so like something understandable and right. Trelowarth is located on a ley line, a supposed alignment of ancient sites that has, in modern times, been adopted by New Age occultists as a source of energy or supernatural power. When Eva suddenly starts noticing disappearing paths that did not exist before and a strange man standing on the lawn at Trelowarth, a lawn that is strangely changed, she begins to doubt her sanity. She comes to realize that she is glimpsing snippets of life at Trelowarth nearly 300 years ago and eventually begins interacting with Daniel Butler, the owner of Trelowarth in 1715, in his time. One of the most delightful things about Daniel Butler and his friend, Fergal, is that they accept that Eva is from the future and react to her with kindness and curiosity instead of fear.

Eva has no control over when she travels through time and is always caught unaware, which adds a bit of an adrenaline rush to the experience of reading The Rose Garden. Clothes that she wears in 1715, courtesy of Daniel, are old and worn when she returns to the present in them and, while she researches the Butlers and the history of the time with the help of her friend Oliver, she is careful while in the past to avoid doing or revealing anything that might change the course of history.

Kearsley has produced a phenomenal novel. it is, in many ways, a typical love story, but the author brings it to the next level by allowing her readers to feel as if they are experiencing the sights and sounds of 1715 along with Eva. This book is enchanting. When I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it and longing to return to the past with Eva. Kearsley provides a couple of unexpected twists near the end of the story that i absolutely loved. You may not be as delighted with this novel as I was, but it couldn't hurt to try it out. I recommend it wholeheartedly!