Il Giardino Degli Incontri Segreti (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I love orchids so the cover of this book as well as the title attracted me to it and I wasn't disappointed.It is a story of love, loss, and betrayal as well as new beginnings.The story takes place in the past, during the beginning of WWII as well as the present. Both of the love stories presented in the book were both heartbreaking and beautiful.I love the settings of England and Thailand and the author has a gift for making both places seem real and I felt sometimes as if I was actually there, living in the grand old house in England or walking through the market place in Thailand.A very good read and I will look for more books by this author. I thought this book had the bones of a great story but sadly wasn't written well enough to make it so. Riley tells the story of Harry, Olivia and Lidia wonderfully, the historical sections of the story kept me turning the pages and wanting to read more. However the present day sections with Kit and Julia were lacklustre and non-believable, with awkward unrealistic dialogue that made me roll my eyes at times. The two sections are so dramatically different in quality of writing it surprises me to know they were written by the same author.All in all and with that being put aside, I did enjoy the story and am glad I stuck with it. I did find it odd however that the mistress of a cheating husband ended up getting ownership of the estate in the end! Olivia and Adrienne must have been rolling in their graves. I loved Olivia I thought she was a strong woman with a true sense of duty. I cared very little for Harry, being the lying cheater with absolutely no backbone. Lidia was alright, although why she called Harry the love of her life after admitting he betrayed her is beyond me. I wish more of Bill and Elsie were in the story. That was the true romance of the story in my opinion. Julia was a total flake. one minute she's completely destroyed by her husband's death and the next she's head over heels for another man. She got over it pretty quickly and the "epiphany" she had with the piano tuner was entirely unbelievable. Kit was alright...had no qualms with him regardless of his utterly feminine dialogue (Riley hasn't ever spoken to a guy in her life apparently). Alicia was great until the whole adoption fiasco (who she too got over too quickly to be believable). That part of the story felt like an addition to increase total page length for the publisher.To conclude, it was a good way to fill some hours while reading this book. Good essence of a story, but poorly executed. I give it 3 stars because the historical sections were good enough to redeem for the other pitfalls.
What do You think about Il Giardino Degli Incontri Segreti (2010)?
Started strong, had hopes for a good read and had my interest UNTIL THE LAST 100 PAGES!! SERIOUSLY?!
—frikki
Really loved the back and forth between present day England and 1940s Thailand!
—delaya
