by A. M. Howell
Will grinned.
“The Earl did say something rather odd,” Clara’s mother said. “He said to tell you he hopes you make a quick recovery…and that he had just finished the latest Sherlock Holmes novel, and that it was jolly good. Something about…lost evidence?”
A small smile stole onto Clara’s lips.
Will looked at her quizzically. “What is it?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said.
Other patients and their visitors were looking over and whispering. “A pineapple,” one lady said to the man she was visiting. “Looks home-grown too.”
“Shall I see if the nurse has a knife and a plate?” Clara’s mother asked lightly, her head tilted.
Will leaned forward on his chair. This wasn’t the picture Clara had in her head, of her and Will on a sunny day, silver trays and fine china, the breeze whipping their hair as they bit into the sweet yellow flesh. But as she had learned, life had a habit of changing your plans without giving you any notice at all.
“That would be perfect,” Clara said to her mother, passing the pineapple to Will. Something swelled inside her chest. “Please can you ask for a few plates though,” she said, glancing up and down the ward. “I think there will be enough for everyone, don’t you?”
My inspiration behind writing
The Garden of Lost Secrets
When I was young, if anyone asked me whether I liked history, I laughed and said, “Absolutely not”. To me, history meant old people sitting in darkened rooms with piles of boring, musty-smelling books. Thinking about the people who lived in my house before me, wishing I could peel back the past like the skin of an orange so I could talk to them – that was certainly not history. Reading books like Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and desperately wishing for a time machine to take me back to nineteenth-century America, did not mean I liked history.
Except, you’ve probably guessed by now, that in fact all of those things did mean I enjoyed history – I was just experiencing it in a different way to sitting in a musty book-filled room! What this taught me is that there is no right or wrong way to enjoy learning about the past – all you really need is an imagination to take you there. If you could imagine yourself back in time to visit one place, where would that be? Would it be your house, a local park, or your school? Could you perhaps find an old map of this place online and compare it to a map of the area today? You might be amazed at what you find!
When I decided to write a story set during The Great War at Ickworth Estate in Suffolk, I wanted to do some historical research so my plot and the characters were realistic. I’m still not too keen on spending hours trawling through books, but instead find that visiting places often gives me brilliant writing inspiration. I took a tour of the servants’ quarters at Ickworth House, keeping the dark, almost underground feel of the winding corridors in my mind as I wrote about Clara’s desperate search to find Will after he had been taken to the cellars.
The pineapple houses in the walled gardens at Ickworth are currently sealed off to visitors for safety reasons, so I visited Cambridge’s Botanical Gardens where there are some lovely hothouses which are still in use (although sadly they don’t grow pineapples there). I spent time listening to the drips of condensation, breathing in the muggy, earthy air and imagining how Clara and Will would feel sitting in there alone in the dark. But one of the best bits of my research must be all of the pineapples I have bought and tasted – squat ones, thin ones, sweet ones and sour ones! The historical research I’ve done for this book has been interesting, rewarding, and tasty, and I very much hope that you enjoyed meeting Clara and Will and reading about their adventures in The Garden of Lost Secrets.
• Why do you think Clara decides not to open the letter from the War Office, even though she knows it might have important information in it? Is she scared? Devious? Secretive?
• During the First World War, lots of men were sent to fight in the army, which meant that women and girls had to fill some of their roles at home and in the workplace. Looking at pages 42, 59 and 164, talk about some of the jobs women were expected to step into. Was it a surprise to you that they weren’t allowed or able to do these before? Why? Can you think of any other jobs or roles that women took on at this time?
• Clara’s father tells her: “You are brave. And when you are brave, you can be anything you want to be… A dog-sledding explorer travelling over snow-capped mountains, a hot-air balloonist soaring over scorched deserts, a botanist making fantastical discoveries in the Amazonian jungle.” Close your eyes and imagine what you could be, then talk to a friend and ask them what they imagined.
• The Garden of Lost Secrets was inspired by the discovery of a 100-year-old gardener’s notebook. After reading Ann-Marie’s letter on what inspired her to write this story, discuss whether you have ever visited somewhere that inspired you to think about the past, or found something that sparked the beginning of an idea for a story?
• In the early twentieth century, pineapples were very sought-after, as they weren’t often grown in England and so had to be imported from abroad. As she looks at the fruit in the Earl’s hothouses, Clara is desperate to taste one of the pineapples grown there. Think about what a pineapple looks like – do you think you could imagine what it might taste like from the smell and how it looks?
• In the book, we find fruit going missing as well as fruit appearing, with the mandarins that Clara finds on the tree stump. Who did you think was stealing the fruit, and who did you think was leaving the mandarins? Were you surprised when you found out who was really behind this?
• We discover at the end that Robert has been plotting to run away for a while. Did this come as a shock to you? Can you find any passages or hints that might suggest Robert isn’t as trustworthy as he seems?
• Why do you think the author, A. M. Howell, has chosen to write the story from the third-person perspective? Would the story feel different if it had been from a first-person?
I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason and the reason I am writing these acknowledgments at all is down to my amazing agent Clare Wallace and the lovely Lydia Silver at Darley Anderson. Thanks for the pep talks, the constant belief and unwavering support – this would not be half as much fun without you by my side!
A huge thank you to the dream team at Usborne who helped get this book ready to go out into the world, but in particular to my editors Rebecca and Becky who are simply the best. I was overwhelmed from the start with the love you had for Clara and Will and their adventures – it’s the stuff dreams are made of! Thanks also to Sarah Stewart – your copyedits were a revelation and joy to work on. I’m already counting down the days until we do it again. The gardens have been brought to life more perfectly than I could ever have imagined through the fabulous artwork – an enormous thank you to Katharine Millichope for the beautiful cover design and Amy Grimes for her lovely illustrations. The Usborne publicity and marketing team also need a special mention – in particular Katarina Jovanovic, Mariesa Dulak and PR consultant Fritha Lindqvist. Your publicity and marketing ideas are genius and I am forever grateful for all the time and care you put into promoting this book.
Thank you to Curtis Brown Creative and Catherine Johnson (author extraordinaire) and my fellow coursemates on the 2015 Writing YA and Children’s Fiction course, for the feedback, laughs and encouragement. This course opened my eyes to the world of writing, publishing and agents and was the push I needed to begin believing.
To the lovely Doomsday Writers – thanks for the chats and for keeping me sane through the ups and downs of the last few years. I truly believe every writer should have a group like this on prescription.
Thanks to Sam, Darren and Serena, my fellow Usborne 2019 debut authors. It’s been a real treat getting to know you guys. Our chats about all things writing and publishing have helped no end!
Without Ickworth Estate and gardens, there would be no story, so a huge thanks to the staff at the National Trust, in particular S
ean Reid who so generously gave me a tour of the walled gardens and talked about the discovery of the notebook. Thanks also to the staff at Ickworth House for letting me “borrow” their excellent words for Mrs Gilbert’s blackboard and for the inspiring visitor tour of the servants’ quarters that gave me a glimpse into Clara’s world.
To my dear Mum and Dad. Thank you for all the books and endless trips to the library when I was young. You enthusiastically fed my love of stories and writing, and I’ll be forever grateful.
A heartfelt thanks to my boys Jack and Ed. Thanks for putting up with my grumpiness when the writing wasn’t going so well and the late dinners when it was going too well. I promise not to talk about plots, characters, or my next book over mealtimes (so much).
A final thank you must go to my lovely husband Jeremy. Your generous and whole-hearted encouragement means the world to me. I remember you once saying I had a book in me, and you were right!
For links to websites where you can find out more about the First World War and other historical events in this book, go to the Usborne Quicklinks website at www.usborne.com/quicklinks and type in the title of this book.
At Usborne Quicklinks you can:
• Find out what life was like for soldiers during the First World War
• Watch video clips about life on the home front
• Learn more about the role of women, and women’s rights at the time of the First World War
• See photos of Ickworth House, a country estate in England, and the inspiration for the setting of the story
Please follow the online safety guidelines at the Usborne Quicklinks website.
The websites recommended at Usborne Quicklinks are regularly reviewed but Usborne Publishing is not responsible and does not accept liability for the availability or content of any website other than its own, or for any exposure to harmful, offensive or inaccurate material which may appear on the Web. Usborne Publishing will have no liability for any damage or loss caused by viruses that may be downloaded as a result of browsing the sites it recommends.
If you loved The Garden of Lost Secrets, you might also love these other historical stories…
6 Chelsea Walk is a unique collaboration between three award-winning authors, Adèle Geras, Linda Newbery and Ann Turnbull, all writing about one very special house and the extraordinary girls and women who have lived there throughout history.
First published in the UK in 2019 by Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England. www.usborne.com
Copyright © Ann-Marie Howell, 2019.
The right of Ann-Marie Howell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Cover, inside illustrations and map by Amy Grimes © Usborne Publishing, 2019.
Photo of Ann-Marie Howell © Nick Ilott Photography, 2019.
The name Usborne and the devices are Trade Marks of Usborne. All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or used in any way except as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or loaned or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
EPUB: 9781474970662 KINDLE: 9781474970679
05231/03
