The Lavender Garden

March 15, 2013
It's time for privileged but uncertain Frenchwoman Emilie to find herself, but to do so, she must first fall impulsively in love, uncover her family's wartime history and come to grips with the neglected chateau she has inherited. Riley's (The Girl on the Cliff, 2012, etc.) multiple storylines offer the reader a narrative combo in this tale of self-confidence-lacking, only-child Emilie de la Martinieres, whose mother's recent death has left her with sole responsibility for the family's Provencal estate. The house story soon morphs into a romance as Englishman Sebastian Carruthers enters Emilie's life, offering conveniently valuable help in dealing with the overwhelming responsibilities now facing her. But is Sebastian up to no good? Things turn a little gothic after Emilie's marriage to Sebastian and temporary move to his remote, cold home in England, which is shared with Sebastian's smarter but misunderstood brother, Alex, a man with a complicated history who is now confined to a wheelchair after an accident. But there's more. Sebastian and Alex's grandmother knew Emilie's father; in fact, both served in the French Resistance, and their story emerges episodically as Riley deftly, if flatly, juggles her plot strands to reach a surprisingly anticlimactic conclusion. A value-for-money saga, solid but lifeless and missing a lavender garden.

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May 1, 2013
When Emilie de la Martinieres, the sole surviving member of an aristocratic French family, returns to her childhood home to settle her mother's estate, she expects to confront a number of long-buried memories. She never expects to meet Sebastian, a charming young art dealer with an all-too-perfect connection to her family. As Emilie's relationship with Sebastian deepens, more questions about her family's history begin to surface. With sections alternating between Emilie's discoveries in 1998 at the family estate and the time her grandmother spent in 1944 in Paris, The Lavender Garden is a sweeping, engrossing work. Riley is talented, delighting in the small details of aristocratic luxury and the pastoral countryside. The sections focusing on Emilie's grandmother, a young clerk working as an undercover agent for the Allied cause in Nazi-occupied Paris, are particularly engaging. The heroines of The Lavender Garden struggle to master circumstances seemingly beyond their control, a common thread in Riley's work. A tale of family secrets, wartime espionage, and loyalties gained and gambled, The Lavender Garden will appeal to fans of historical fiction, Kate Morton, and Helen Bryan.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)