At Nell's joyous 21st birthday party her world falls apart when her father tells her she was adopted as a 4-year-old in 1913, seemingly abandoned on an Australian wharf and unable to remember her name.

In 1975, the only surviving clues to Nell's past are given to her after her father's death; the memories they trigger lead her to travel to England to unravel the puzzle, part of which is connected to the author of a rare fairytale book in her possession.

She discovers her true identity despite having been thought dead for more than 60 years, and finds her way to Tregenna, and Blackhurst Manor, on the coast of Cornwall.

Major themes and subject tags for this novel include: abandoned children, Australia, country homes, England, Cornwall, Inheritance and succession.

"[1] The Forgotten Garden exhibits many of the Gothic conventions found in books like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, most poignantly the dark and gloomy estate.