Guest Review: The Secret Orchard by Sharon Gosling

Bette and Nina Crowdie have never been close – the ten-year age difference doesn’t help, and Bette’s rarely been home since she left for university at eighteen. When their father passes away and unexpectedly splits the family farm between them, Nina is furious and afraid. She’s been working at the farm for the past five years. It’s the only home her young son, Barnaby, has ever had, and she’s convinced that Bette will sell at the first chance she gets.

When they discover the huge debt their father has been hiding, Bette reluctantly agrees to help her sister. But that means they have to find a way to work together, and Bette must face up to the real reason she left all those years ago.

Could a long-forgotten diary and the discovery of a secret orchard on their land help save the farm – and the sisters’ relationship?

I have been a fan of Sharon Gosling’s books since reading her debut adult novel. The Secret Orchard is her fourth adult fiction book and is set like some of the others in a small community in north-east Scotland. I liked the sound of the story, with a little bit of mystery and history combined with family affairs. I certainly found it an intriguing tale from the very start, the storyline keeping me coming back for more right up to the end.

The story centres on sisters Nina and Bette Crowdie, whose father has recently died, leaving the family farm shared between them. This has angered Nina, who has been living there with her young son and working the land alongside her father. Bette, on the other hand, left home many years ago and has been working as a successful lawyer in London, seldom returning home. When it becomes clear that the farm has been left in serious financial difficulties, the sisters must work together with the help of some close friends to save their family home. The discovery of an orchard on the land which seems to have an interesting history holds a possible lifeline for the farm. While the estranged sisters work together to establish their rights, it seems that their fractured relationship could just be healed.

I very much enjoyed this story with its cast of interesting characters, stunning setting on the sometimes wild Scottish coast and air of mystery surrounding the history of the orchard. Nina and Bette seemed initially very different, but as they worked through the problems left by their father and the discoveries linked to the orchard nobody knew about, problems from the past were gradually eaten away. I loved Nina’s son, Barnaby, whose sometimes amusing antics helped smooth the way for the sisters to find common ground. It was interesting, but also frustrating, to discover as the story progressed the real reason why Bette had left home in her teens. Although much of the story involves problems for the characters, I was pleased that there is also romance for the sisters along the way. This is a book that I would definitely recommend; with its combination of family and mystery, it should appeal to many readers.

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