Caroline stood beside her chair and looked out at the world she knew. Something very strange was happening.

Young Caroline Thorpe has noticed that her world is changing. Strangers have been coming to visit and mysterious packages have been arriving – then, suddenly, she is whisked away from her home… and everything she thinks she knows.

Unbeknownst to Caroline, she is in fact the illegitimate child of the Duke of Cley.

But arriving at the Duke’s stately hope proves less than a fairy-tale ending: Caroline is faced with bitter jealousies and petty resentments upon joining the household. Caught up in a whirlwind of illicit romance and forbidden desires, Caroline struggles to know who’s on her side.

Inspired by the true story of the Duchess of Devonshire and Lady Elizabeth Foster, The Lost Garden titillates with its reimagining of life in this scandalous and unconventional family.

The Lost Garden is the last instalment of the Purchase Family series and was first published in 1982.