Set on the shores of Lake Como, at Villa Marchese, in the aftermath of WWI, The Italian Garden contains a gothic earlier mystery at its heart. Violet Honeywell , war widow and horticulturalist, has been asked by Luca Marchese to recreate the locked away English garden belonging to his grandmother as a present for his absent wife’s birthday. Violet and her physiologically damaged brother, Edmund, with the help of a team of Italian workmen begin to restore the garden. Through the kindness of the Marchese family and the calm of Lake Como, Edmund will be helped back to health. There are two love stories within the novel. And, of course, the path of true love never runs smoothly. I loved the secondary characters such as Massimo and Bepe who are fully realised wonderful constructions and important to resolving the mystery in the narrative.

This is a novel that is intricately plotted and it will keep a reader turning pages. The descriptions of the lake, the garden and the villa are beautiful. I learned much about garden design and planting without realising it. At the centre of the plotting are familial relationships and the touching relationship between Violet and Edmund. This is a time when women, post WWI, are seeking independence and struggle for recognition in a world dominated by men. It is a period of change that is seamlessly integrated into the fabric of this novel. Charlotte Betts subtly addresses such issues with the storyline and though glorious descriptions of clothing and women’s new interests such as jazz and dances that , in the novel, worry the traditional . Even so, important things such as love, respect, integrity and loyalty matter most to the majority of the novel’s characters, though perhaps not all. This is a rich, romantic novel full of hope and enduring love. It is an uplifting small masterpiece with evocative descriptions, important themes, great characters and, importantly, fabulous story telling. My thanks to NetGalley for this book. It is been a treasure to read and review.

I loved this book from the first pages and being a lover of cottage gardens it was a perfect fit. Great characters and descriptions of the garden and what she was growing made it interesting reading with a bit of mystery thrown in to keep your interest. Couldn't put it down and read it in one go especially being transported to Lake Como with the beautiful sunshine after the constant rain at home!

Violet honeywell is let go from her job at kew Gardens after the war. Her brother Edmund returns from the war with shell shock, and after promising her mum, she would always look after him she takes to caring for him.
After a dream job offer arises she feels like she can't take it because of Edmund but he convinces her it would be good for her and him for his recovery if she accepted.
They travel to Lake Como Luccas ancestral home where Violet begins the huge task of restoring flora's garden into an English flower garden for luccas wife's birthday.
Beautifully written historical fiction lots of past secrets revealed and mysteries solved.

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this eCopy to review

The Italian Garden was a beautiful sun drenched book that I found very uplifting. Violet loses her job at Kew Gardens once the male soldier who had the job before the war returns now the war is over. If only it were that simple for everyone, Violet's brother Edmund is suffering from Shell Shock having promised her mother to always look after him, Violet is prepared to put everything on hold to look after him even her dream job and future happiness.

However, Lucca won't take no for an answer and says he will help get Edmund to Italy and that he can work with Violet to restore his grandmother's English Garden on the shore of Lake Como as a birthday present for his wife.

The sun and work help heal both Edmund and Violet (whose husband was killed in the war), Violet also uncovers a mystery of a dead body in the pond and what happened to Flora. This added a good suspense element to the book that I enjoyed.

Full of wonderful characters, and beautiful descriptions of the garden, you really gained a sense of ow hard Violet worked to make it.

I really loved this book and was swept up in the story. The Italian setting was glorious and the characters were engaging, several twists in the tale and a suitably well thought out and satisfactory ending! Would recommend - many thanks.

Set in 1919 just after the Great War, this is a romantic read for all lovers of Italy and of gardening. Violet's brother is suffering from shell shock, and when Violet is offered a position in a Villa by Lake Como, she decides it is his best chance of recuperation. But the Villa Marchese has a whole nest of secrets, and over the course of this ingeniously plotted novel the reader unfurls them one by one.

There is the mysterious drowning of Flora, who originally designed the garden that Violet is to restore, and also the strange death of Isabella her daughter, a generation before. Add to that Violet's growing attraction to the he owner of the villa, and you have a novel simmering with secrets and romance.

Violet is an interesting protagonist, a woman in a man's world, intent on furthering her career in horticulture. You can't help rooting for her. (apologies for the pun!)
This is a novel of pure escapism -- a beautiful garden by a lake (and Charlotte Betts really knows how to bring it to life through all the senses), a slow-burning love affair and a gripping plot with a surprising twist at the end. Highly recommend.

A beautiful portrayal of a brother and sister in London, Edmund and Violet, caught in the aftermath of the First World War, who are having to adjust to living with the life-changing consequences of the war, and of a fractured Italian family whose ancestral home stands on the shore of Lake Como, a family that knows the pain of deep loss.

The two families, each suffering their own form of loss, are brought together by a profusion of flowers, one might say, and the lush descriptions of Flora’s garden that permeate the novel. It is the need to find a skilled gardener to bring back to life an overgrown garden in his Italian home that brings Luca to London, and it’s Violet’s skill and creativity with flowers that wins her the position.

In the months that follow, which are set in Italy, the garden takes shape under Violet’s guiding hand. At the same time, the Italian family and their servants, and the sense of loss they feel, become familiar to the reader. As the reader watches the beauty of the garden unfold, an awareness grows that there’s a secret that will break out at any point, and this keeps the reader turning the pages, along with the desire to see a happy end to Violet’s story.

This is a lovely book, enhanced by wonderful descriptions of flowers and the Italian scenery, and in which there is a range of characters who step off the page. It is highly recommended.

What a lovely book. I think it's my favourite of this author's. The story feels very familiar but nonetheless keeps the reader engrossed as it unfolds. I loved the characters - Violet, Edmund, Luca and all the wonderful cast of Italian family and gardeners. Plus, the descriptions of the setting were exquisite. I barely lifted my head from it once I started reading.

Set just after WW1 in Italy. Violet is commissioned to restore a walled garden that has been abandoned for decades. She takes her brother Edmund who had terrible experiences in the war hoping it would help. She then discovers all is not as it seems

I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. The tenderness of Charlotte Bett’s portrayal of the aftermath of the First World War is both sensitive and very moving. Each of her characters is facing loss and we follow their progress as they begin to heal and embrace a new future. I loved her delicate portrayal of both shell shock and the pain of deep regret and I particularly loved the premise of how restoring a neglected garden is in itself restorative.
It’s a complex story, perfectly crafted and beautifully written. Just as the woody overgrowth in the garden is cut back, layer by layer, so too the secrets it contains are peeled back, layer by layer, until the truth is revealed. And what a satisfying ending it brings.
As always with Charlotte Bett’s writing, her evocative descriptions capture the time and place exactly. I loved the descriptions of the villa with its views across Lake Como, the clothes they wore, the food they ate, and most particularly the flowers Violet plants in the secret garden. The central love story is both moving and heart breaking, as are the background stories of most of her characters.
Yet despite the pain of loss, the story is uplifting. The restorative process has been set in motion and as we read, we live in the hope that when the garden is healed, the people who love it will also be healed.
A really lovely story that will stay with me for a very long time.

A book that makes you feel that you can smell the perfume of the flowers in an English garden. A book for people that love gardening, historical fiction, and mysteries. I will confess that I thought I had worked out the ending very early on, but there was a little twist in the tale that surprised me.