May 26, 2026 by Macmillan Australia
ISBN 9781761779398 (ISBN10: 1761779397)ASIN B0GR77GC8L
My Review: 4 Stars
From the first paragraph this book had me laughing. I mean what wonderful lines to begin the story with: “Pushing up the daisies and on the way to the compost heap you just never know when you might go”!!!
Poor George maybe dead but Hilary is about to learn a lot more about her husband, it is really is lucky he is dead!!!
Hilary and her daughter Bernie discover correspondence in George’s things from the Secret Garden Club, both having no knowledge George was part of such a thing, but there was the invitation they were going to be attending his home in a matter of days. Only George is dead and Hilary has no idea who the Secret Garden club are and she has just destroyed Georges beloved garden in a hate fuel rampage.
And from there the story starts with and Hilary being outvoted and hating herself for being a chicken shit for not having the courage to stop the secret garden club from taking over and restoring George’s garden.
Rita, what a character, doesn’t draw breath, heart of gold but gosh I think we all know someone like her who steamrolls over everyone, leaving you wondering what just happened. And Rose, understanding and gentle, has no idea of the murderous thoughts Hilary is having about her. Though later in the book I find myself loving the feisty Hilary more than the nice Hilary.
The conversation after their trip to Melbourne between Bernie, Tasmin and Hillary was like listening to a ping-pong match—back and forth, back and forth, repeating each other’s sentences like parrots (which happens quite a bit between Tasmin and Bernie, I don’t know how Hillary put up with it). I felt dizzy like I was turning my head from one person to another whilst reading. I can just imagine the sticky notes coating the author’s wall so she could track the conversations.
Hilary’s mind was obviously running away with itself, imagining all sorts of things, having endless conversations inside of her.
This book at times felt like a amusing counselling session with some really outrageous and confusing conversations between Hilary and the counselling hotline, where she subjects the poor counsellor Michael to the plight of refugees rather than address her own grief.
This is such a feel-good, happy story with a roller coaster middle, the masks we wear, how we read into things and blow them out of proportion in our minds and where Love and Death compete for space.
The Blurb
Can a broken heart learn to bloom again?
When Hilary finds her husband of thirty years dead on his way to the compost heap, it is the end of
the world as she knows it. In a fit of grief, she lays waste to every inch of the beautiful garden to
which George devoted his life.
But nearly as shocking as George’s death are the group of strangers who appear at Hilary’s door.
Announcing themselves as the The Secret Garden Club, they tell Hilary that George was a member
and one of their dearest friends. So why has Hilary never heard of them? And have they got
something to do with the mysterious mourner at George’s funeral, with his favourite orchid pinned
to her chest?
While the club vows to restore the garden to its former glory, Hilary makes one of her to
uncover the truth. But it will mean questioning everything she ever believed about her marriage.
Will George’s secret break her heart for a second time? Or could it possibly show Hilary the path to a
new life still yet to blossom?
