Sorrel is one of the Sparrow sisters, a trio (once a
quartet) of preternaturally gifted women who have a connection with plants.
Their nursery in New England overflows with gorgeous plants that grow and bloom
fast- that’s Sorrel’s realm. Another sister works with herbs and healing; the
third can make any food related plant bear lushly. For this reason, Sorrel has
come to the attention of a wealthy British manor owner. Kirkwood Hall has been
renovated and made open to the public part time. All is lovely- except for one
spot. The old Shakespeare garden lies in ruins, as it has for a couple of
centuries. Within its walls, nothing grows. Sir Graham Kirkwood asks Sorrel to
come over and make it right.
Once she gets there, Sorrel finds a happy extended family.
There is only one grim spot- Lady Kirkwood’s brother, Andrew. An Anglican
priest on sabbatical, he’s recovering- poorly- from a broken heart. He provides
the romance in this combination romance/mystery, as Sorrel and the Kirkwood’s
try to not just make the Shakespeare garden beautiful again, but to find out
*why* it’s lain fallow for so many decades. Then there is the legend that any
Kirkwood entering the garden will fall ill and die…
This is a pleasant enough story, with the extended family
(that includes the head gardener, the inn keeper, and Lady Kirkwood’s brother)
searching for clues while Sorrel designs and plants the garden. Basing it both
on other Shakespeare gardens and glimpses of it in the tapestries, she creates
a formal arrangement of parterres and knots that bursts into growth and bloom
the minute she puts the plants in the ground. But things don’t work out easily;
the garden’s curse is still alive.
As a gardener and a foodie, I couldn’t help but love the
descriptions in this story. Herrick brings to life the look, feel, and scent of
the plants. The meals the family eats are described just as lushly as the
plants; I was hungry most of the time reading this! The mystery was
interesting, although it largely came down to people deliberately hiding
information. But the book is not without its faults; this is the second book of
I assume a series, and as such referred constantly to events of the first book.
Those references took up far too much of the narrative, and it’s far too
repetitious. Also, for a mystery, it’s not a very tense story- it dwells on the
relationships too much to make us worry much. It’s like the book couldn’t
decide if it was a mystery or a cozy woman’s story. Still, I’m going to find
the first book and read it. Because plants.
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I received this book free from the LIbrary Thing Early REviewers program in return for a fair review.
Neither of these things influenced my review.
Might like this series for easy distraction reading. As I read the review I kept thinking this sounds like... but I couldn't remember the other book. I'm sure I haven't read anything by this author.
ReplyDeleteShe's being compared to Kate Morton and Alice Hoffman. I've not read Morton, but she's kind of got the Practical Magic thing going, but isn't nearly the writer Hoffman is. Maybe in a few more books...
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