Tracy Rees has done it again - she is fast becoming one of my favourite authors! I devoured the Rose Garden in one sitting! This book had a 3 way narrative split, following the lives of women in turn of the century London and deals with issues such as emotional abuse, racial relationships and child poverty. The characters were brilliantly formed and I found myself thinking about them for several days afterwards. I loved that she didn't tie up the ends of the romantic story neatly and shows how women don't need a romantic happy ending to be fulfilled.

I really loved this book. Such a fascinating host of characters. I could read a whole series of books with different stories focused each one. Brilliant historical fiction

Set in the dying years of the nineteenth century, this evocative novel entertains, educates and asks some serious questions.
The story is centred around three main characters Mabs, a canal worker who wants a better life for herself and her family, Ottie, the youngest daughter in a household with secrets and Olive, an independent woman of means. I loved this book, it addressed many social issues of the time in a way that enhanced the storyline. I did feel that the character of Jill could have been explored further as several questions were left unanswered. Maybe she will appear in another book?
Read and enjoy

What a fantastic book! It had me hooked from the first page.
Set in the late 1800’s it tells a story of three women from very different backgrounds who for one reason or another their lives entwine and become firm friends and support for each other.
Abigail, Olive and Mabs are three wonderful characters who I came to respect throughout the book.
Such deeply drawn characters I found myself routing for them all.

This is a brilliant book which should not be missed.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy. It was an absolute pleasure.

I really enjoy Tracy Rees’ books and this one was no exception. She writes historical fiction so beautifully and instantly draws you into the storyline with a compelling plot and heartwarming characters. The Rose Garden is a really engrossing story and I couldn’t stop turning the pages eager to find out what happens next. Set in Victorian England in around 1895 we get a insight into the lives of women in this era, their roles, attitudes and responsibilities. This is a period of time when women were denied an education, expected to marry and produce an heir and once married they become the ‘property’ of their husband, which is quite unthinkable. The author vividly captures this time period and the differences in classes, from the dark slums to the bright opulence of the homes of the upper classes.

The story follows three completely divergent female characters, each from different social backgrounds and age groups. However, they all had one thing in common which was their determination to forge their own way in a male dominated society. I was wholeheartedly rooting and cheering for these women who battled against the injustices they faced head on. It was also really marvellous seeing these women forge a solid friendships with each other despite their social standing.

A wonderful blend of history and drama, this is yet another fabulous novel from this author. A thoroughly engaging read full of amazing female characters. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the eARC for review. 4.5 Stars.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I was hooked from the beginning with this story, I loved Olive, wishing I was her best friend. Born into wouldn't incredible entitlement, she’s also aware of that and wants to do her but for the world. Wanting so much to take on a child from the local orphanage knowing full well that it will be looked upon as not the done thing, she still goes ahead, with the thought that the important thing is giving a child a loving home.

Ottilie’s family came to London from Durham, following a scandal that she knows nothing about. She’s the child of determined man, and the woman, stats in her room as she’s not well. A father who she loves, that is until she finds out what he’s really like, he send her to school, and then changes her school as he thinks it’s too reforming.

Then there’s Mabs, she’s eighteen but dresses like she was a boy, in order to work heaving goods on the canal.
Lou tells her of a job, working as a companion for a family, who’ve moved to London.

A book about three women, with different stories to tell. A book I couldn't put down.

Recommend It.

Set in the late 1880s this is a heartwarming story of three women from different backgrounds. As their paths collide friendships develop. Together they share secrets and offer each other a helping hand in tough times. An enjoyable read.

The Rose Garden by Tracy Rees.

A very poignant story of three woman / girls living three entirely different lives . Olive lives with her well to do family in Hampstead . Twelve year old Orville Finch moves in next door from Durham, bringing family secrets with them . And then Mabs who is living a hard life on the canels.
There three lives are entwined when they come together. Secrets are exposed.
The story why set in 1895 , yet covers topics relevant to now.
I enjoyed reading the book enough to keep a look out for further novels by this author.

Wake up and smell the roses world, because women are no longer going to capitulate, they will branch out on their own. Making friendships and decisions that will shock the society of 1895 when this book is set, steeped in Victorian values. The author takes us to the past as much as the present.

1895, London, Hampstead. Olive’s life is full of privilege, she knows how lucky she is, but she craves to have a child. A difficulty when unmarried in 1895. However that does not stop head strong Olive and her sense of philanthropy leading her to an orphanage.

Mabs, has become the matriarch of the household after her mother dies, with younger siblings and a grieving father, she works on the canals, disguised as a young boy. It is some of the most dangerous work. An opportunity though takes to her to Hampstead, to be a companion of Mrs Finch.

Young Ottilie Finch, is only twelve and along with her family, they are newly arrived from Durham. For reasons we do not know but are of some intrigue. Ottillie wants to explore this new territory and finds herself meeting some very different people and cannot understand others abuse about the friendships she wants to build.

Women and girls, who are all on different paths in life, but through the magic of storytelling all come together and their worlds mix and collide. What you think of perhaps as modern day problems; racism; domestic abuse and sexism is played out in this historical context and was at times upsetting but also heartening to know that we have progressed from having to dress up as males to seek work.

This book wanted me to cheer out loud for these female characters who were facing society head on. It had me hooked as I knew it would from this author and I felt bereft when it ended as I wanted to know more about these wonderful women and what happens next in their story.

Simply engrossing and one of my favourite reads of 2021.

Wonderful!! It's not often you find a book full of characters that could each have their own book that you'd happily read, but they're all here!! Under one banner and it was just so lovely to be part of their world for the duration of this story. The author really does do historical fiction so well, and captures the essence of the times whilst including such strong, fascinating characters!

Set in London, around 1895, we're introduced to very different characters living very different lives. Olive has a life many people would dream of, and she's fully aware of the privilege she has. But she's not one of those obsessed with indulgences and endless partying, she wants to do good and becomes determined to adopt a young girl from the local orphanage - definitely not the done thing if you're a young, single woman!

Then there's Ottilie, who is 12, and has recently moved to the area from Durham with her family. And she's excited to be living in London and just wants to explore and learn! Another determined young lady!

And then there is Mabs, who has a tough home life after losing her mother, helping her father provide for her 6 siblings. When she's offered the chance to work for the Finch family as a companion to the poorly Mrs Finch she jumps at the chance and is determined to do her best. She is soon part of the family and so grateful for the opportunities she has been granted.

What follows is their stories and how they come into contact with one another. It's a fascinating story of independent women of the time and how that was frowned upon, and they were expected to tow the line and do as they were told. It was heartbreaking at times to see the lengths some people would go to to keep them in their place, so to speak, but their spirit never waivered and seemed to be inspired by what they saw around them.

An engrossing story full of wonderful female characters! Adored it!!

Set in the late 1800s. The story starts with Mabs, she working on the canals, dressed as a boy because its illegal for girls to work there. Living in one room with her father and younger siblings she's the main breadwinner as her father is too consumed by the death of her mother a year ago.

Olive is the total opposite, rich, lives in a big house, wants for nothing, except a child. On reaching her 28th birthday if she hadn't wed then she was going to adopt from the local orphanage. The cards had not dealt her a husband. She had planned to adopt a child called Gert but it wasn't to be and took Clover home instead.

Ottie, 12, has moved with her family from Durham and on one of her secret walks away from the house she meets Jill, who is posing as a boy to work at her fathers business by the canal.

I was instantly drawn into the story and enjoyed getting to know them all. Three very different characters whose lives will intertwine. All three are strong women who seemed ahead of their time. It was a time where men thought they were superior to women. The racism towards Jill was just awful and even worse is that it happens still. Very entertaining reading. I enjoyed it a lot.

A tale of women who wish to live for themselves and not be controlled by men.
Olive Westallen is a woman ahead of her time and a wonderful ally to have in your corner.
Mabel Daley wants more for her family, wishing she can free them from a life of poverty.
Abigail Finch is trapped and cannot see a way out.
Abigail's daughter, at 12, is already proving herself a force to be reckoned with.
At a time (1895) when women were denied education, expected to marry and provide heirs, these women rebuke that notion.
With this book, I felt at times that perhaps the character of Olive was a little too generous with her thoughts & her time. I'm not sure she was entirely believable as a woman of that era.
At 12, Otty was exposed to an awful lot that I would have expected a child to be shielded from.
It was a very enjoyable read, however, as are all of Tracy Rees Books.

A lovely book, this is a must read for fans of Kate Morton. I have already recommended it to my friends and family. Fab read.

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley and all opinions are my own.
I'm a big fan of this author and I really enjoyed her writing in this book. It raised some important issues such as women's rights and racism. The imagery and descriptions are great.
However, the story line is not that strong, making the story feel aimless with little drive and action. It makes the story difficult to follow and engage with.

Set in Victorian London this book is about woman power and how women from three different types of families fight against the constraints of their life to live the one they want.
Olive in her twenties is from a rich family but she has no intention of marrying so she adopts a child to be a mother.
Mabel is 15 and dresses as a boy to work in the docks and earn money to feed her brothers and sisters. Her mother has died and her father has been too drunk to work.

Otty is only 12 . Her family have moved to another city to avoid a scandal. Her mother, Abigail stays in her room all day as she is said to be delicate. That leaves Ottie alone to wander wherever she likes.

I loved the way this story brings these characters from different walks of life together. It was a real tour around the different areas of London and the people who live there, their believes and their prejudices.
It is truly awful how the law treated woman at the turn of the 20th century and how men used it to their advantage to control women.
Women could attend university but they didn't get a degree at the end of it. I could hardly believe some of the things in place to prevent women from having their own lives.
I loved the characters in the book. I admired one of the minor characters,Jill who knew what she had to do to protect her friend. It was so sad that she had to.
Olive is a great character and a brilliant role model for Mabel and Otty.
A lovely story of friendship and the fight to be one's own person and not be governed by another.

A compelling story of three unusual women at the end of the 19th century. After some time spent establishing the storylines and voices of Olive, Mabs and Ottie, Rees draws us into their individual paths which ultimately combine together.

It's a story of female friendship, empowerment in an age where women were seen as the weaker sex, and has a page turning final quarter. The voices of the different women are well distinguished; although Mabs is the only one whose story we see in the 3rd person we get a good sense of her personality through reported speech.

My only reservations are the title (which didn't seem to have a lot to do with the story) and the fact that Olive particularly was so open minded for the time, to a saintly extent. I would still recommend this book highly to anyone interested in historical fiction giving voices to women, and really enjoyed reading it.

I usually know within the first couple of chapters how much I’m going to enjoy a book but I knew within the first 2 pages that this was one I was going to struggle to put down. Definitely recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

1895. Hampstead, London. Olive Westallen lives a privileged, if rather lonely, life in her family’s grand Hampstead home. But she has radical plans for the future of her family – plans that will shock the high-society world she inhabits. For her new neighbour, twelve-year-old Ottilie Finch, London is an exciting playground to explore. Her family have recently arrived from Durham, under a cloud of scandal that Otty is blissfully unaware of. The only shadow over her days is her mother’s mysterious illness, which keeps her to her room. When Mabs is offered the chance to become Mrs Finch’s companion, it saves her from a desperate life on the canals. Little does she know that all is not as picture-perfect as it seems. Mabs is about to become tangled in the secrets that chased the Finches from their last home, and trapped in an impossible dilemma.

This is a very nice read and I did enjoy reading it. Other than that, I feel like I am struggling what else to say which is not a good sign! I just found everything mediocre and it needed a little something extra to get the story going. The plot is fairly good on paper but it did not come across in the book very well, I did not find myself enraptured or swept away by it. Plenty of things happen throughout this read but again I was not gripped by the plot and it definitely needed a twist or a spark of excitement to get the plot going. This was not a terrible read, just lacking in major areas.

I do have to be positive about the atmosphere Rees has created. Rees has captured the time well and I did feel like I had been transported back and could immerse myself in the world of the characters. Speaking of the characters, this is another area I have to be positive. I loved the characters in this, Rees firmly centres this around women, women of different backgrounds too, and we get to know them, learn about their life and struggles and follow them as they go on adventures. And oh wow do they go on adventures! The characters get up to quite a lot during this read and I enjoyed each individual thread as well as seeing how Rees pulls them altogether.

'The Rose Garden' is not a terrible read and the characters and atmosphere are two massive positives. Personally, I felt this was lacking excitement and energy, otherwise I did enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an adva

A brilliant historical read that captures the reader from the very first page.
It will is a story of three very different women and their positions in life in Victorian society who for different reasons become firm friends.
It is a mystery and a love story but also so much more because it describes the way that women were treated in that society regardless of their position be they wealthy or poor because men thought that they owned them
Absolutely brilliant and very thought provoking

I absolutely loved this novel and it's warm and friendly leading characters. Set in Victorian Hampstead and told from the perspective of both Olive a privileged independent young woman, Otilie, recently arrived from Durham and Mabs scraping a living doing the work of a boy on the wharf to provide for her siblings.
Events being the three girls together and Mags begins working for Otilie's family caring for the cantankerous mother. But, something is afoot and which of the parents in the household is to be trusted?
I do not want to give anything away as the plot takes an unexpected turn and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you to Tracey Rees, Pan Macmillan and Net galley for enabling me to read the ARC.
This novel is delightful and not to be missed!