Cover Image: The Garden of Forgotten Wishes

The Garden of Forgotten Wishes

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Member Reviews

The Garden if Forgotten Wishes is an easy comforting read with a cast of characters with great individuality, humour and attention to a subject that needs talking about.
The main character Marnie has been through a lot and escaped a controlling ex husband. Ned a chap Marnie knew at horticultural college has also had his share of difficulties. They come together when Marnie is employed to help Ned restore the garden of an old Manor House.
An enjoyable story although I did find myself skimming a few pages but this is probably because I’m no gardener or cook!
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly

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I love reading and I love gardening so The Garden of Forgotten Wishes was the perfect book for me! I thoroughly enjoyed every page, the characters, the setting, the incredible detail of the Old Grace Gardens in Jericho's End and how everything was created and developed step by step. We are given so much information and complex detail which allows up to build up a fascinating and stunning picture of the Gardens and their restoration - it is like we are there with them, every step of the way!

Marnie is such an incredible lady who despite tragedy with the loss of her Mum and a very coercive and controlling ex-partner, she has blossomed into a wonderful person, who has immense talent, drive and passion for gardening that you feel you want to go outside and tender your roses!

The community aspect of the book was so lovely - Despite her initial reservations and with some encouragement from those around her, especially those at Lavender Cottage, Marnie threw herself into the community and made some lovely life friends.

The relationship between Marnie and Ned does not start off on the best footing, due to previous history but once they both get to know each other and Ned realises that Marnie is on exactly the same wave length as him (in many ways!) they get on so well together and their relationship blossoms.

I did not want the book to end, I wanted to keep on reading to find out about how the gardens developed and read more about the relationship between Marnie and Ned. And Casper the cat was just a complete fun cat who was always by Marnie's side - a great companion for her, especially when she first moved in.

A fantastic delightful read, totally deserves five stars (and more!). Thank you for a lovely lovely read.

This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

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This was a sweet, gentle read and one I thoroughly enjoyed. It is a lovely story, everything was described so well I felt I knew the village already. I found the book quite hard to put down as I really wanted to know what would happen next. It is full of wonderful characters, twists I didn't always see coming and with plenty of gardening and cooking, as all Tricia Ashley's best books are.

I really liked the characters in this book. Marnie, is a really fascinating person with a rich, if somewhat sad, back story. I loved her determination to overcome everything and she is so sweet, sometimes a little sarcastic which, for me, just added to her character. Ned is the owner of the big house and garden that Marnie goes to work for, he is reticent to begin but as he warmed up and I really liked his kindness and humour.

Add in a whole wealth of other great characters, Elf and Myfy, Marnie's co-employers, plus the huge ginger cat, Casper, who had the most personality of all the stage was set for a really good tale.

I loved this wonderfully descriptive story, it is a really lovely romance which I highly recommend.

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A charming, heartwarming story of unlikely love that stems from two people who find it hard to trust again.

I am a huge Trisha Ashley fan so a massive thank you Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the opportunity of reading this book.

Trisha always manages to make me feel nostalgia when reading her books. Jericho's end has the familiar and comfortong sights and smells of my local Welsh villages. She states that she often seeks inspiration from Portmeirion, but this novel specifically speak about 'Fairy falls' which reminds me of a combination of Aber falls and the Fairy Glenn.
Trisha introduces the new character of Marnie and weaves her into the already established characters of Jerrico place. Fans of Trisha Ashley know that this is something she does often with her books, introducing new characters to the stories of town. However, the beauty of Trisha's tales is that you don't need to have read the other books to know about these characters. This book is no exception. A beautiful stand alone novel or can link with past books to add hidden detail to the reader.

I really felt for the protagonist. Trisha writes carefully about a woman who has been mentally and emotionally abused by an ex partner. She writes about this truthfully yet sensitively, allowing the reader to become protective over her future.

I was kept guessing all the way through. I enjoyed the "budding" romance formed ( excuse the pun,) but I had a feeling of trepidation throughout and I knew Marnie's possessive ex husband was going to come back into the picture but was kept waiting for the moment it would happen and I didn't see the way Trisha wrote it happening. Trisha spends more time writing about Marnie's secret family connections and how she is reluctant to tell her new boss.

The story itself is based of Marnie helping to restore Grace gardens and lanvander cottage and the antics surrounding the restoration. I'm no gardener myself and found myself lost sometimes some of the "green fingered" conversations that occurred throughout the book but it didn't take away from the imagery that were formed of the stunning gardens the characters all helped to create.

I enjoyed the book. Another lovely read from Trisha Ashley. She never fails to write stories that make me smile. Always enjoy the end of the book recipes too.

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Although there was quite a disturbing back story to the main character (domestic abuse and miscarriage) this is a lovely magical story of new beginnings. Lots of great description and wonderful characters.

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Wow!! I have been reading Trisha's books for years and love them all, but this is my favourite by far!!! I loved the main characters Marnie and Ned, learning about their lives gradually at the beginning. The other characters at Jericho's End were a colourful bunch, most of whom I loved, with a sprinkling of those I loved to hate!
I enjoyed hearing about the garden, as it was delicately restored, and enjoyed how further in the book we learnt more about it's history and how it came to be there, along with a few flashbacks to the past.
Oh, and as for Casper the cat, just brilliant, loved him.
A strong and gripping story, absolutely loved it from start to finish.

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I love Trisha Ashley books so much, and each one seems to be better than the last. They’re just a perfect blend of gentle romance and humour. I know I can settle in and enjoy hours of entertainment and happiness.

The pace is gentle, but it is interesting throughout, with lots of little humorous moments that make me chuckle. I really liked Marnie right from the start, she’s had a tough time of it, but is still a lovely person. I love her snarkiness and sarcasm, it’s just brilliant. Ned took a little more getting to know, mostly down to his initial negative reaction to Marnie. However, I definitely grew to like him as the book went on, he has a good sense of humour, and is generally very kind.

The scene when Mike and everyone finally turned up was hilarious.

As usual with a Trisha Ashley, this book has an excellent sense of place, I definitely feel like I’m there. I love the way that it’s set near some of her other books too, and a few well known characters make cameos. It gives a real sense of there being a whole world within which these books are set.

If you’re looking for a book full of gentle romance, humour and interest, this is the book for you.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

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I only recently discovered the joys of the bestselling Trisha Ashley's warm hearted novels when I read The Christmas Invitation and some of the characters from that make background appearances here. 36 year old Marnie Ellwood, lost her beloved mother, Martha, in 1993, who told her magical stories of growing up in Jericho's End but told Marnie she must never go there. She was adopted by the wonderful Ellwood family, gaining a sister and best friend in Treena, a vet. Marnie made an ill fated marriage to Mike Draycot, a man who turned out to be a manipulative emotional abuser, coercive, controlling, isolating her and maliciously wrecked her professional career as a horticultural gardener. She managed to escape to France, divorcing him, working in various crumbling Chateau gardens and buildings. Hearing Mike has remarried, she deems it safe to return, securing a gardening position in Jericho's End that pays a pittance but comes with a home.

This turns out to be the best move she could have made, she adores the turquoise haired Elf, who makes mouthwatering ice creams for her cafe and her artist sister, Myfanwy, sorting out their garden, but sending the bulk of her time into the back breaking work of helping to restore the gardens of Old Grace Hall, owned by ex-TV garden designer, Ned Mars. Marnie had been at the same horticultural college as Ned, who like her, is recovering from a personal nightmare relationship that resulted in tabloid scandal, all untrue, that has made it harder for him to trust. Marnie finds herself in seventh heaven, putting her heart and soul into bringing the rose garden back to life and more, becoming embedded in the local community with ease. One of the first people she meets is the unprepossessing, workshy, shifty, light-fingered Wayne Vane, her first meeting with a family member, although he is unaware of this.

Ashley immerses the reader in the rich descriptions and intricate details of restoring the Old Grace Gardens to open them to the public. Jericho's End is a beauty spot and rural idyll, a magical location with its Fairy Falls, a location that will snake its way into your heart, with its folklore, tales of treasure and local traditions. The drama comes from Marnie and Ned delving into their family history and the surprising connections between them, with Marnie too afraid to open up about being related to the unpopular Vane family, and a Mike that refuses to stay in her past. The romantic elements are very much background material, Marnie's increasing involvement in the strong and active community life ensures that she feels like she belongs, that this is the home she has hungered for, with the bonus of a Ned who shares her passion for gardening. A fabulously beautiful and entertaining read that I recommend highly to readers looking for a well written, feel good novel. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

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Trisha Ashley is one of my favourite authors in her genre. However, Ithis book left me with mixed feelings. It has everything I like in her novels, but I had some problems with the balance. Not being a gardening enthusiast, I felt the gardening parts too much and too lengthy. I would have been more interested in the twists of the plot, and the cast of unusual characters. I also felt that some possible elements went unused. For example, there is much talk about the poison garden. Wouldn't you ecpect something to happen about it? An accident, a near accident, a crime, an attempted crime etc. Also, I felt the "big secret" i.e. her being related to a certain family, a bit forced. And that scene at night on the farm was outright unbelieveble. All in all, I don't think this is Trisha Ashley's best book. However, as she is a great writer and on of my favourite authors, I will read all her next novels. I recommend this one mainly for green fingered people who are passionate gardeners.

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What a wonderful book from Trisha Ashley !
Marnie is a gardener, she’s always wanted to be a gardener. Sadly Marnie was orphaned at a young age. On her mums deathbed, her mum made Marnie promise never to go back to where her mum had grown up. Her mum had never explained why though.
Marnie’s adoptive family decided to move abroad. Marnie and her adopted sister, who is also her best friend, decided to stay in the UK. After a brief marriage, Marnie travels abroad to be with her family. While there she travels around restoring gardens. Then she learns her ex-husband has remarried, so Marnie decides to return to the UK, but the only job available is where her mums family live. So starts Marnie’s life in the UK.

Here Trisha Ashley comes into her own. Her descriptive writing made me feel as though I was wandering the gardens and villages of where Marnie is. Trisha describes the quirks of the characters so well, I felt as if I was there in the room. Her wit comes through in the book by Marnie’s quick responses and the conversations Marnie has with the cat.

Most of Trisha’s books are set in Yorkshire, admittedly in fictional villages, but characters from her previous books usually make an appearance in the book she has just written.

I’m a great fan of Trisha Ashley but have tried to review this book honestly, but without giving spoilers away.

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Another fantastic Tricia Ashley book. Marnie is a gardener who had a disastrous controlling marriage. She fled to France to work on gardens there so her husband wouldn't find but came back to England when she'd heard her ex had remarried. She then gets a job in Jericho's End which her late mother had warned never to go to

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Marnie Ellwood has been running away for the last five years, from garden to chateaux and back again in France, Marnie feels that it is probably the right time to settle somewhere more permanent with a future. 

When a job comes up in Jericho's end as a gardener with accommodation thrown in too, it seems to good opportunity to miss. Apart from one thing, it is a place where her mother says she never should go to. It has too much history for Marnie's late mum, but she does not really know why. She takes the job anyway, what possible harm could it do?

Settled into a lovely little place she can put down roots and with Elf and Myfy looking out for her as well as a rather dominant cat called Caspar. Marnie gets to work not just only her landlady's gardens, filled with lavender bushes and rambling roses but also the river walk and waterfalls where some mysterious sightings have been in seen in the past and a place which an rather ethereal sense of calm over it. 

Add to this Marnie is also to work next door in the 'big house' and it turns out the owner and renovator of the garden and house is a fellow student of Marnie's from a long time ago, Ned Mars. There is a mystery to the rose garden and the whole place and Marnie throws herself into her gardening role and suddenly finds the peace she was perhaps searching for those years she was away in France. 

With her friendship with Ned very much established, embracing life in Jericho's End seems a given and Marnie finds she is in a place to stay. She is near her sister, she can enjoy the quiz night in the local pub and most of all she can enjoy gardening. 

However it seems the ghost of many pasts are still lurking around Jericho's End and they have an uncanny way of finding Marnie and making life rather interesting for a while. 

Will Marnie restore more than a garden in Jericho's End?

This is a wonderful delightful descriptive book from Trisha Ashley, she just gets better and better with each book. Whilst I was a bit lost with all the relatives from long ago and how they all fitted together with Ned and Marnie I was soon swept away with the restoration of the garden. It is the sort of place I would want to visit and secretly the sort of project I would love to be involved in. I could easily transport myself as someone who is looked after by a whole village as Marnie is. 

If you are familiar with Trisha Ashley books then you will recognise familiar characters on the outskirts of the plot and Jericho's End, it makes you feel as if you are part of that wonderful storytelling Trisha family. 

Perfect for those who want to garden without getting your hands dirty and perfect for those who just want to escape - blissful reading awaits you.

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Trisha Ashley very much has her own style of writing and this is another great example of it, Marnie is a very strong character who escaped her controlling husband five years ago however the fear of seeing him again meant she left Lancashire and spent the interim time working as a gardener at various french locations. She finally feels safe to return to England however can only find employment in a small Lancashire village, ironically her deceased mum’s birthplace which Marnie herself has never been to.

Whilst there is a degree of predictability each of Trisha’s books have such interesting characters, often strong and independent with no requirement to conform to expected norms which is very refreshing and a hint of past mystery which work extremely well, not to mention there is often a nod to previous characters which I enjoy. I loved learning about the garden and the passion there, whilst gardening isn’t my thing it didn’t make it any less enjoyable as it was such a part of the characters. Overall this was a very relaxing, escapist read.

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I have been a big fan of Trisha Ashley for years so it was a delight to be able to review the book.
This is the story of how Marnie rebuilds her life after her mothers death and following a messy divorce from her abusive husband she flees to France, however finding her self back in England she tries to find out more about her mothers identity whilst still hiding from her past.
Marnie is a gardener and I really enjoyed all the descriptions of flowers and garden, it was pure escapism. I felt really invested in Marnies journey and was rooting for her throughout the book.
The simple writing style is both enjoyable and easy to read, adding to the imagination of the story. The perfect summer read!
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House UK & Transworld Publishers for this Arc

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Garden of forgotten wishes by Trisha Ashley
I really did enjoy this book it only took me 2 days to read easy story to read I do not want to give too much away about the plot so I won't go into too much detail but is it's about old house with lots of lovely Gardens that has been redone the main characters are both very strong you will feel pulled towards them I liked how they both had history and how they knew one another from the past but that was very good and the story from the old book were mixed into it it was interest the I will say that there were both gardeners i was interest in how abd what they was doing with the garden how they found the garden now they wanted to get back in the Victorian time which was really interesting I how they got all the old plans and I could see what the plans were and how they was going to have the plants now I really enjoyed that part of it is a set I could see it in my head the descriptions where were very good the writing stylish very easy to follow when you are pulled into the story you get to know the main characters really well which is nice and I liked how you you knew the background of each character and how they interweave together I did like that It a very good book I will give it 4 stars you could see the grand reopening in your mind which I like I like how the plot ended is very good book and I hope it will carry on another one because it could do thank you NetGalley for letting me read

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I’m a fan of Trisha Ashley’s books and this one does not disappoint. The storyline is excellent and I love the way she a.ways weaves characters and locations from previous books, it never feels forced and brings back memories of other books that I have enjoyed.

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A huge thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

I will be honest I was very excited when Netgally chose me to review this book as I am a huge Trisha Ashley fan and her latest book did not disappoint.

The story follow Marnie, adopted following the death of her mother, who found a new life in France after leaving her dreadful husband Mike for a new and quiet life. As time went on Marnie finds herself back in the UK, in fact back where her mother grew up, trying to hide her identity and hide from her past.

It’s a complex story which Trisha handles brilliantly in her usual style. I would describe the story as an escape into the rose garden, with family saga and romances entwined. The connection between Marnie and Ned builds nicely and I would love a cat like Casper! The descriptions of the gardens are detailed enough to imagine the footsteps of Marnie wondering down the gravel footpaths taking in the sights of each garden.

Trisha’s style of writing is simple, but not in a negative way. It allows the reader to escape into their own imagination without complication. I have already recommended this book to family in friends when I was just half way through. If romance, family saga and rose gardens tempts you then this is the book for you a perfect back garden read.

This book is published on 23rd July 2020 – so a huge thank you to Netgally allowing me to read this before publication

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A lovely story with a different subject in gardening. It was interesting and enjoyable and I would definitely recommend this book to those readers who enjoy this type of book.

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This book takes Marnie back to Lancashire. I liked all the worldly magical goings on of the village, representing the history of the area: witches, fairies etc. Marnie meets Ned who she went to gardening college with. They have both been bruised in the past and must overcome their trust issues. A lazy Sunday reading choice. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

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A lovely book but lacking in story for me. If you are an avid gardener perhaps it will cater to you more. I found it slow and to be honest a bit irritating.

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