The Garden of Promises and Lies

June 1, 2020

In the "Little Shop of Found Things" series, beautiful objects intimate their stories to the shop's proprietor, Xanthe, and send her whistling back in time. Here, she's home again, but she has inadvertently brought dark and dangerous Benedict Fairfax with her from a recent foray. To fix the mistake she must respond to the call of an antique wedding dress that deposits her in 1815 Bradford-on-Avon. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2020
Brackston returns readers to Xanthe's life in Marlborough (after Secrets of the Chocolate House, 2019), where she's adjusting to her new abilities. Xanthe has been able to hear history from certain objects since she was a child, and now that she lives near a special house, she can travel with those objects through time. Conveniently, she and her mother, Flora, run an antique store, the Little Shop of Found Things, which allows her to find items that sing to her while working. When Fairfax, another time traveler from her distant past, reappears, Xanthe is faced with hard decisions regarding whom to confide in as he quickly makes his ill intentions known. As she develops more control over her abilities, she is summoned into the past where Fairfax has settled. Between lying to her loved ones, and developing a quick overconfidence in her abilities, Xanthe makes many of the classic blunders of a heroine fumbling with her new powers despite her best intentions, keeping readers engaged in her adventures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

November 30, 2020
Brackston’s enjoyable latest entry in her Found Things series (after The Secrets of the Chocolate House) finds time-traveling Xanthe Westlake on another reluctant adventure to the past. Xanthe, recovering from her breakup with Samuel—her 17th-century flame from the previous installment—is wracked by the guilt of knowing her return to the present allowed Samuel’s former boss, maniacal aristocrat Benedict Fairfax, to follow her there. Xanthe, who is a Spinner with the ability to travel through time using historical objects, wants nothing to do with her ability, but when a wedding dress from the 19th century calls out to her, she is launched back to 1815 Bradford-on-Avon, England. Xanthe, who has visions of the bride who originally owned the dress, is compelled to help her before she is convinced by her family to marry Fairfax. As Fairfax’s threats escalate, leaving Xanthe’s mother in danger in the present day, Xanthe realizes she must break her connection to her Spinning abilities if she wants to free herself. Brackston wastes no time getting into the story, so readers unfamiliar with the series will likely feel lost. But those who enjoy Brackston’s unique blend of historical detail, village charm, and twisty plotting will be delighted by this rip-roaring installment.