'A sweeping novel you won't put down' Katie Ffforde
The new novel by Sunday Times bestseller Harriet Evans will enchant her fans with this unputdownable and heart-breaking tale of a family ripped apart and the extraordinary house they called home. Harriet writes the most delicious, epic stories from the heart since Maeve Binchy and Kate Morton.
Nightingale House, 1919. Liddy Horner discovers her husband, the world-famous artist Sir Edward Horner, burning his best-known painting The Garden of Lost and Found days before his sudden death.
Nightingale House was the Horner family's beloved home - a gem of design created to inspire happiness - and it was here Ned painted The Garden of Lost and Found, capturing his children on a perfect day, playing in the rambling Eden he and Liddy made for them.
One magical moment. Before it all came tumbling down...
When Ned and Liddy's great-granddaughter Juliet is sent the key to Nightingale House, she opens the door onto a forgotten world. The house holds its mysteries close but she is in search of answers. For who would choose to destroy what they love most? Whether Ned's masterpiece - or, in Juliet's case, her own children's happiness.
Something shattered this corner of paradise. But what?
Harriet Evans brings her readers home...
'Utterly gorgeous and filled with flowers and paintings, secrets and heartbreak ... and always hope' Veronica Henry
'I can't remember the last time I was so enthralled and affected by a story and its characters' Red
'This sweeping tale is by turns painfully sad and heart-lifting, with characters that stay with you.' Good Housekeeping
'Evans's storytelling feels both authentic and satisfying. An immersive mystery.' Woman & Home
'Heart-stopping and wonderful' Sophie Kinsella
'Harriet Evans is my favourite author' Goodreads
'Secrets and lies in a gorgeous idyllic setting' Prima
'Reminiscent of Santa Montefiore with the emotional heart of Jojo Moyes. You'll frequently find yourself uttering the words: just one more page' CultureFly
This brilliantly written portrait of a fascinating family in crisis is an emotionally intelligent, thoughtful and engaging read.' Daily Mail
'Will make you gasp and move you to tears' Marie Claire
'I was blissfully carried away by this intelligent (she's as good as the great Rosamunde Pilcher), classy and superbly executed family saga' Saga
'She reels you in and then you're hooked, right to the last page' Patricia Scanlan
1919: Sir Edward Horner, the most celebrated artist of his day, destroys his world-famous painting, The Little Birds, shortly before his death. But why?
The new novel by Sunday Times bestseller Harriet Evans is the unputdownable tale of a family torn apart and the house they lived in. Harriet writes the most delicious, epic stories from the heart since Maeve Binchy and Kate Morton.
Millions around the world once queued up to see the painting that captured a perfect moment: Horner's two children, John and Eliza, playing in the garden of their magical, mysterious Nightingale House, the family home he and his wife created deep in the heart of the English countryside.
But such moments cannot last for ever.
Almost a century later, Horner's great-granddaughter Juliet inherits Nightingale House, now weighed down with unspoken secrets. Why would Ned Horner destroy The Little Birds - the thing he loved best? And can art historian Juliet untangle the web of passion and tragedy in his life and her own to discover the answer?
Praise for Harriet Evans's novels:
'She reels you in and then you're hooked, right to the last page' Patricia Scanlan
'Atmospheric and altogether wonderful' Lesley Pearse
'The immense feeling of place, the slow, irresistible sense of being drawn deep into the family and its story, and the strange hovering of menace somewhere in the idyll. Wonderful' Penny Vincenzi
'Her characters are finely drawn . . . The result is that rare and lovely thing, an all-engaging and all-consuming drama' Daily Mail
'Wonderful, engrossing . . . A triumph' Sophie Kinsella
Harriet Evans's family saga is a poignant story of love and loss across three generations.
