Published By: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 400
Date Released: 01/10/2020
Freya Fuller is estranged from her parents and has been following her childhood dream of becoming a gardener ever since. When an opportunity to design a winter garden opens up at a Victorian property in Nightingale Square, Freya jumps at the chance to make a fresh start. But while the majority of the residents are welcoming, local artist Finn seems determined to shut her out, and when Freya’s family make a surprise appearance, it seems that her new life is about to come crashing down.
*****
Let me start by saying, if you have never read a Heidi Swain book, stop reading this review right now and go and pick one up and don’t come back until you’ve read it cover to cover. May I point you in the direction of The Winter Garden as your first read. It was the first of her books that I read and now I have a whole collection of hers as they are just un-putdownable (yes that is a word).
I normally hone in on depressing, gritty books, and Swain’s are anything but, but that’s what makes them perfect.
Whilst this book is set around Christmas time, and explicitly focusses on the winter, it doesn’t scream “Christmas book” at you, if that’s not your kind of thing – clearly it’s mine. But it conveys all that is good about the festive period. The promise of snowfall and warm fires, family and friends, cosiness, love and laughter.
I was really quite sad after I finished reading this as it means I was no longer reading it. I know I can repeat read (I’ve done that several times since I first read this), but I long to be able to read it for the first time again.
Books By Your Bedside 