Can love bloom in the same place twice?

In 1940s Ireland and on a remote Irish island, two young lovers are beset by tragedy. Set against the backcrop of the west coast of Ireland and wartime London this is a story about loss, friendship and the power of true love.

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'In THE LOST GARDEN Kate Kerrigan does what she does best – she whisks you off into another time and place and makes the unexpected happen with effortless ease.

Kerrigan has set her story close to her Mayo home, drawing on the tragic story of the Kirkintilloch Ten, a crew of Irish 'tattie hokers' (or potato pickers) who died in a fire while working in Scotland in 1934.

The Lost Garden is set during World War II, but Kerrigan's depiction of life for Irish seasonal workers is so convincing that it reads almost like a work of historical biography.

However, the author has made a point of honouring the real victims of the tragedy, emphasising that her story is just a work of fiction. For all that, her disquieting account of the accidental bothy fire that will scar the lives of so many of her characters is told with chilling realism.

Aileen returns home numb and bereft, but the fate of the man who has tried to win her heart, Jimmy Walsh, is uncertain. To take her mind off the pain, she sets about restoring the lost garden of the title.

Meanwhile, the focus switches over and back from wartime London.

Kerrigan's prowess as a historical novelist again comes to the fore. She paints a vivid picture of the Irish in Camden Town and the wounded ex-servicemen trying to rebuild their lives.

If you plan to read The Lost Garden, allow yourself a day to disappear into this fine writer's world because once you enter it, you won't want to leave.'

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Irish Independent

'I devoured this book in one sitting - I LOVED IT!' Marian Keyes

'A feel-good story about love, freedom, belonging and the meaning of home' Stylist

'A book with heart; warm, enjoyable and gently compelling' Daily Mail

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