I really enjoyed this beautiful novel about family, friendship, and fighting for a greater good. The garden serves as a backdrop and thread that ties main character Isabelle to her great grandmother Stasia who spent time in the Chateau gardens as a teenager during the Nazi occupation of France. I would recommend this to readers of historical fiction and other similar authors include Kate Quinn and Julia Kelly.

This book features a dual timeline narrative that skillfully intertwines past and present events. The author is one of my most admired writers, whose captivating prose kept me engrossed throughout the story. I found it hard to stop reading this book, as I was eager to discover the fate of the characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

This is a dual timeline story so the story alternates between the WW2 years and the present day in which the protagonist wants to renovate a chateau in France. We follow 4 different lives and how they are all connected to the chateau. Well written and well researched, this book was very interesting, one I would definitely recommend.

I absolutely loved Bowen’s Paris Apartment and really loved this one too. Her writing is stunning. Love the dual timelines. I connected more with the past characters though.

There was so much history this novel covered and I loved the chateau and garden that the author incorporated into the storyline. Told through a dual time line this novel follows four different lives and how they all are connected to Chateau de Montissaire and its wild garden. Nicolas and Stasia have to face the reality of the war and how much their lives are about to change. Nicolas enlists and Stasia decides she also needs to do her part, and becomes part of the resistance. As they continue to lose the ones they love to this horrible war, the two also take risks in feeling they don't have anything to live for anymore and shocking reunion will once again change their lives and futures. Two sisters have always loved the chateau and now is the chance for them to own it. Although the sisters have a past they need to get past, this just might be what it takes to get them together again. Each have a different idea of what the chateau can be made into, when pieces of history are found that may give credence to a local legend and story from an old bar keep, that everyone just thought was a story he told. I just love these dual time line war novels and the history that is always woven through. I learn something I did not know with every one I read. Thank you to Forever pub, the author and NetGalley for the free arc. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

My favorite part of this dual timeline story was the historical part. I feel like it really depicted the horrors of war and how a whole generations was changed by the war. While both Stasia and Nicholas stories were full of different struggles that each of them faced they both witnessed life changing atrocities. I love how the story was weaves through time. As for the present part, while I loved them referring to the pictures and them trying to discover the history I was not nearly as attached to their story as much as the other one. I do love how we got to learn about what happened to Stasia and Nicholas after war but was not attached to the girls. In the end I loved a lot about this story but there were also parts I could have had trimmed to get back to the historical part.

Bowen never disappoints with her books! I loved this dual timeline story about two sisters renovating a French chateau uncover secrets that tie back to their great grandmother's life in France during WWII. There's romance, action and a beautiful story of family you won't forget.

Thanks to Forever/Grand Central Publishing for a copy to review.

I loved Kelly Bowen's romances. I thought they were original, well-written, and thought-provoking. I wanted to find the same reading experience in her historical fiction. Sadly, this wasn't so. I found her heroine Stasia too good to be believed, too fey and cute for my taste. And the historical research was "creaky": there was an info-dump by incorporating it as dialogue between Luc and Isabelle. Overall, a disappointing switch to a new genre for Bowen. Nice to see that Bowen can still turn a phrase: hope to see her write another historical romance.

While Kelly Bowen has written a number of historical romances, I hadn’t heard of her until her novel The Paris Apartment was published in 2021. (Review here.) I liked it so much that I didn’t even need to read the description of The Garden of Lost Secrets to know that I’d want to read it. That doesn’t always work out but, happily, it did in this case. I really, really enjoyed this book.

Here’s the book’s description:
1940 - Stasia always found comfort in the idyllic French countryside where she spent her childhood summers, roaming the gardens of an old chateau and finding inspiration for fairy tales full of bravery and adventure. But these days are much darker, and with Nazis storming across Europe, she soon finds herself one of the most hunted agents of the Resistance. The only safe haven she can think of is Chateau de Montissaire. But she’s about to discover that it just may be the center of her biggest mission yet.
Present day - When Isabelle purchases a crumbling chateau in Rouen, it’s not just a renovation project—it’s a chance to reconnect with her sister, Emilie, the only family she has left. What she uncovers instead is an intriguing mystery… As the siblings piece together the incredible truth behind the books written by their great-grandmother Stasia, they discover an exciting story of courage in the face of treachery and an explosive secret that will change everything they believed about their family.

For some reason, even though I knew Anne Frank lived (and hid) in the Netherlands, I never realized how much World War II impacted that country. I didn’t know Nazis moved in and I didn’t really think about how many Jewish people would have been removed from that country. I definitely didn’t know much about the Resistance efforts there nor did I think about how so many people would have said, after the war was over, they were part of the Resistance but, in reality, did nothing to help their Jewish neighbours and others who were being sent to labour or death camps. This is not the first historical fiction book I’ve read this year that featured Dutch characters (though this one was much better) and I think we might start seeing more of these stories soon. It’s another little nugget of WWII history that is interesting and why I will continue to read these kinds of stories. Bowen shared in the historical note that there were 140,000 Jewish people living in the Netherlands before WWII. Around 107,000 of them were deported to camps and 102,000 of them died in those camps. This was, as Bowen writes, the highest mortality rate for Jewish populations of all the occupied Western European countries. It’s sobering and I always appreciate reading these notes, especially when I’ve really enjoyed the fictional story that came out of the research. This might have been a novel I’ve loved reading but I need that reminder that this fictional tale was based in real, horrifying, facts.

Dual timeline historical fiction novels aren’t always done well and are becoming maybe, a little bit, overdone. That said, I’ll defend them when the present day timeline plays an important role. Usually the present day characters can serve as stand ins for the reader as we all go on a journey of learning about the past. That’s somewhat the case in this book. Isabelle’s discoveries and research, with the help of experts which I loved, shed some light on the past while also recognizing that there is so much we don’t know. And so much that we’ve been told - like how so many people had been involved in the Resistance - is more fiction than fact. The truth is, sometimes we just can’t get a final answer to what happened in the past. It’s frustrating but I appreciated Bowen including some of that in this story.

It’s no surprise that I enjoy a love story in all my books so I was really hoping for a happy ending for Stasia and Nicholas. I loved how they met and desperately wanted them both to make it through the war. They had absolutely horrifying experiences and they each thought the other was dead. Oh, the heartache I was feeling for them both! They were both such strong characters and I really loved them and their love for each other.

I don’t want to say too much more about The Garden of Lost Secrets because I feel like it’s best if you go in without too much information. Just know that Kelly Bowen has written an excellent historical fiction novel that is full of interesting and devastating facts and characters that you can’t help but love. If you’re a fan of historical fiction written about World War II, you should definitely read this book.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by Forever via NetGalley and a finished copy was provided by HBG Canada, both in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

This dual-timeline novel of WWII and the present day is really impressively researched and executed. I learned some war stories that I hadn't known (or at least didn't remember), and found myself wanting to prepare to join the resistance against the fascism that is sadly growing in our modern society and government. My only quibble is that both Stasia and Niemec sound like Slavic names, not Dutch.

I won't give away too much of the ending, but I stayed up way too late to find out what happened to the 20th-century couple. The 21st century story was interesting too, but not as compelling.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a temporary digital ARC and provide my honest opinions.

This is a love story set against the backdrop of war. Stasis and Nicholas meet and fall in love. War separates them and they each think their world is over. Isabelle and her sister buy a French chateau. They uncover a mystery surrounding their great Grandmother.

Using a dual timeline, the author has written a moving, and at times brutal telling of World War II and the Nazi atrocities in Holland and France. Isabelle is researching the history of a chateau that borders her grandparents farm in Normandy. Fascinated with drawings and stories of fairy tales told by her grandmother, Isabelle seeks to find out more about the chateau. Stasia was born in Rotterdam, but spent her summers with her grandparents in Rouen. When war takes everyone from her, Stasia has to make some very tough decisions and actions. Stasia believes her first love has been killed when the Bretagne sinks. There was much to learn about in the context of two well told stories, and I appreciate that the author is realistic, and shows how much research went into the book. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars
I didn't do myself any favors in reading this so soon after "to die beautiful", which is about the woman that inspired this entirely fictional story. I definitely picked up on the Hannie Schäft vibes.

The major plot points were so overly predictable that it took away from the excitement of the story. I enjoyed it overall, but the twists could've been crafted in a different way to make them more surprising.

It has some beautiful moments of love, sisterhood, grief, and trauma. I just wish it wasn't so predictable.

Dual timeline story set in France during WWII and present day. The link is a chateau that the great granddaughters are restoring. They learn about their great grandparents and try to piece together their history. In the war timeline, both Stasia and Nicholas are involved in the resistance. Secrets, love, history and family are all essential in this story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I really enjoyed this book. Two sisters discover the fairy tales written by their great-grandmother during WWII in this riveting tale of one woman’s secrets lost in the chaos of war—perfect for fans of Julia Kelly and Natasha Lester. This has a dual time line and I loved them both. This is a must read for anyone who likes WWII tales.

I was hesitant to read yet another war story historical - but I'm glad I found this one.

Phenomenal storylines! The characters are so fleshed out and interesting. I love the dual timelines and really enjoyed both storys. No matter how bad the situation, they kept going and used the memory of each other to keep them focused on their tasks. I love how both stories come together in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

I got pulled into this story from the very beginning and continued to be until the very end. It is a fascinating story that alludes to the Grimm Brothers fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Although it is along the same lines as many of the current stories being told of the French Resistance this one has a Dutch perspective and the characters are magnificent. Both the characters of Stasia and Nicolas appear as both compassionate and cold-hearted and the story maintains its creditability. Although the characters themselves are not based on actual people the events are and the author separates reality from fiction in the historical notes at the end.

I loved every bit of this book!! I have read this author before so my expectations were pretty high. She nailed it! It was everything I thought would be in a book of hers! Loved the dual timeline, loved descriptions of the areas! Just all around an Amazing WW2 book that will definitely be recommended by me!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley. But I also purchased a copy.

This is a wonderful duel timeline WWII novel that follows Nicolas and Stasia throughout the war and Isabelle in modern times who are all connected by an old chateau!

Kelly Bowen crafts a beautifully heart-wrenching story. I loved how she highlighted the bravery that so many women had during wartime! One of my favorite parts of the book was seeing how much we don’t know our own limits until we are pushed to them!

This book started a little slow for me but once I got into it I didn’t want to put it down!

I loved seeing how everything came together as the story went on. This is a compelling read that is perfect for historical fiction fans! This was a 4.5 for me!

One of the dates in the book was my birthday so I had to snap a picture!!

Thank you so much to @readforeverpub for this gifted copy!

Kelly Bowen is one of my favorite historical fiction novels and this book does not disappoint. Captivating story with perfectly done dual timelines. Thank you, NetGalley.