This book review was originally published on The Wordy Nerd Books on August 11, 2014.

The Sea Garden by Deborah Lawrenson is divided into three separate novellas that do not seem to be connected too closely for most of the book. The first novella begins with an award winning garden designer traveling to a small island off the coast of France to restore a historical garden. Once she arrives on the island she meets a whole host of mysterious characters and the reader starts to realize that things are not quite what they seem.

The second and third novella transport the reader back to World War II. I enjoyed these two novellas much more than the first one. Each of the novellas was a short and interesting story but none of them really grabbed me and pulled me into the book. Towards the end of the third novella the author connects all three stories together. While it makes for a beautiful overall story, it began to feel very rushed at towards the end of the book. The last fifty pages it felt as if the author was trying to just hurry and wrap the book up. I think I would have enjoyed this book a bit more if the author had flushed the ending out a bit more.

Overall, I rated this book three stars. It was not my favorite book but it was well written and an interesting story.