Susanna Kearsley’s THE ROSE GARDEN – Smugglers, Time Travel and Love Across the Centuries

Eva Ward has returned to Cornwall from Los Angeles, following her sister’s death. She remembers Cornwall and happier times where they spent their childhood summers. In Cornwall, Eva meets old friends. Yet, from the beginning, something is different. She hears voices in the old house and, one day, she is transported back in time to the 18^th century where she encounters the Butler brothers and their Irish friend, all smugglers held in high esteem by the villagers.

 

She cannot control when she slips from one century to another. Soon finds herself falling for Daniel Butler, a man who lived - and died - long before she was born. Eva begins to question her place in the present, and in sending her sister’s ashes to the wind, realizes that she too must decide where she really belongs, choosing between the life she knows or the past she feels so drawn towards.

 

Kearsley paints a vivid world of both now and then. The secondary characters and the villain come alive on the page. I could see myself walking the cliffs above the sea. There is mystery, too, and that is well done. The only confusing part was toward the end when more time travel is piled on and it was hard to hold it all together. Still, it’s a wonderful story and held my interest throughout. I recommend it.