Review of The Restoration Garden
I keep saying I dislike dual timeline stories but I keep reading them. Of course I don't have much choice because I love historical fiction and dual timelines are everywhere! The writer in me is wondering...are dual timelines the best way to format historical fiction, the easiest way, the way most readers enjoy it? Why am I seeing so many books with dual timelines (or the occassional triple timelines!)? Ok, tiny rant over. Up next is - you guessed it - a historical fiction with dual timelines of modern day and World War II England.
More about The Restoration Garden
Julia Esdaile is hired to restore the historic gardens at Havenworth Manor—the grounds of which are now an abandoned snarl of bramble and weeds—to their original splendor. For the enigmatic lady of the manor, ninety-three-year-old Margaret Clarke, the reason for the restoration is the deeply private story of a promise made a lifetime ago, and a vow to keep it before she dies.
It’s 1940, and Margaret’s older half sister, Irene, an aspiring artist, dreams of an exciting world beyond Havenworth. Her only escapes are James Atherton, a handsome officer in the RAF, and her sketchbook of flower drawings. Bonding over their disdain for war, Irene follows James to London, where, irrevocably in love, she is forced to make a choice she never imagined. With that, Irene vanishes from Margaret’s life forever.
Now, with the help of Margaret’s godson, Andrew, Julia is determined to uncover both the long-buried secrets of the past and the truth behind a heartbreaking mystery that only restoring the gardens of Havenworth can solve.
More about Sara Blaydes
Sara Blaydes has been obsessed with books ever since she demanded her parents teach her to read at four years old so she could steal her older brother’s comic books. A perpetual daydreamer, it was only natural she begin to craft stories of her own where she could escape into worlds of her own creation.
She currently lives in British Columbia with her handsome husband, two amazing children, and an overly anxious Boston Terrier puppy. She believes books are magic, summer is the best season, and parsley is never optional.
Thoughts about The Restoration Garden
I liked the twist to this novel - the major character in the modern timeline doesn't even know the whole story from the World War II timeline(she was just a child when it happened). So the events of the World War II timeline are told solely from the missing sister's viewpoint. Personally, I would have loved to delve more into the World War II timeline which is quite and interesting tale.
Author Sara Blaydes did a wonderful job of painting the picture of Irene. You can truly feel the airy, artist feel of her, the innocence. It made a wonderful counterpart to the news stories that reveal all that the modern day timeline characters know about Irene for most of the book. It will also keep you reading, wondering how such a sweet girl could end up a traitor.
Ready to Read
A Little Something Extra
Sara has another historical novel being released in December 2026 and you can pre-order it HERE. The Lost Painting is the tale of how a stolen work of art and a murder connect two women across time in a thrilling and emotional novel about sisters, secrets, and healing the wounds of the past.
To rebuild her life, grieving widow Maya Bishop moves to a cottage she inherited in the Pacific Northwest, next door to a charming new neighbor, Nick. She is looking to regain some peace. But one day Maya finds a painting with a bloodstained frame hidden in a linen chest. On the back of the canvas is a confession—I killed her. I’m sorry.
Before she knows it, Maya is drawn into a decades-old mystery.
In 1943, Ava Holland applies for a job at Covington Estate in North Carolina, home to an eccentric railroad baron and a testament to the greed of the richest echelons of society. Except Ava’s position as a domestic is a guise. She’s there to find out who killed her sister, Isabelle—a passionate art lover, a dedicated curator for the Met, and as the fiancée of the Covington heir, a woman marrying into a house of secrets.
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