This was a very pleasurable book to read.It transports you back to the war years and and what some people are willing to do to escape. The description of the secret garden makes you wish you could be there. This is a nice read with a cup of tea .

Wow this book is stunning. The author is really super talented. I was qboslutly hooked. I felt the terror and the fear jumping off the pages of the book and the ending just wow.

Garden of secrets was a totally heart-rending and powerful story about love, secrets, and betrayal. This was just the most beautiful book ,from it's gorgeous cover to the immersive storyline.
I was engrossed from start to finish; such a well-crafted, thrilling and moving story surely marks this author as an author to watch. I can't wait for more!

A powerful read that will stay with me for all of the right reasons. A book set in two timelines, this tells the story of Anya and Nikolai during the war and of Laura in present day. Anya and Nikolai are spies and have been sent over posing as workers on the estate in Norfolk. Anya, known as Anna is a land girl and Nikolai, known as Nicholas is to work in the house listening as the master works in the house of commons. Present day and Laura following a traumatic break up with her long term boyfriend has gone over to Norfolk to stay with some friends, one of whom works on the estate. Laura is to work on the walled garden and restore it. When digging she finds a cigarette case containing a note and a ration card which piqued her interest. Who does the case belong to and what does the note mean?
I loved this and found myself racing through the pages- to me the sign of an excellent writer to keep my interest throughout. I liked Laura and the mix of the two timelines works very well for me. Oh wow! The chapter about the water and the wake of a boat, the past, present and future stopped me in my tracks, it was so moving, powerful and evocative. A love story, a war story and so very much more.
#blogtour

“Under the shade of the weeping willow, she could see a sparkle of silver… She reached out to it and felt a tremor through her body, knowing instantly: this was a secret, and somebody hid it here in this garden…”

First of all, have you ever felt a hug from the pages of a book? I feel it when an author LOVES her story and LOVES writing it. Love was poured into the pages and I sensed it when I read this book. Kelman has a perfect recipe for a beloved historical fiction: Take one wartime secret, mix it together with an impossible mystery and gently fold in an unforgettable love story! Like a trusted recipe that you’ll pull out time after time, this book will be one you’ll want to read over again to recapture what Kelman imprints on your heart.

The author offers us a spectacular time-slip novel centered around a secret walled garden on an estate in England. The garden intrigues two women from different eras; Anya (1940s timeline) has a dangerous secret and Laura (present day timeline) uncovers the secret 75 years later. Readers are pulled into a beautifully written story featuring espionage, betrayal and love.

Kelman’s success here is her descriptive and fluid writing style and her ability to place the reader in the setting. She has crafted ordinary, unnoticed people who had an opportunity to serve and placed them in situations which revealed the hero within. Kelman’s setting is spectacular and contributes to the mystery; a secret walled garden, a character itself, accessible to only those with a key and a Weeping Willow tree whose branches touch the ground providing shelter and cover for secret meetings and messages. Her characters are fascinating; they come alive and take over the narrative! I’m still thinking about Nick and Annie days later. The nail-biting tension was also well developed. Readers really get a feel for what it must be like for spies as they attempt to put the mission above all else in their life, sending secret codes, retrieving messages, and not knowing who to trust. Being well-paced and having a twist I didn’t see coming, also added to the success. It’s not often that I love both timelines equally well but I was as invested in what happened to Nick and Annie as I was with what was developing between Laura and Jamie. What a beautiful historical fiction romance. You will love this wartime love story that spanned 75 years and the garden that protected their secrets within its walls until the right person came along - a garden restorationist who brought the garden back to life.

Kelman is a new-to-me author and after loving this book I Googled her backlist - I was like a kid in a candy store and bought A View Across The Rooftops! Oh, my! Historical fiction lovers, check out this author’s work.

If you love secret gardens, Russian spies in England and wartime fiction, this five=star story is for you!

I was gifted this advance copy by Suzanne Kelman, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.