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  • Published: 2 September 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473582644
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 528
Categories:

The Winter Garden




For readers of THE TOYMAKERS and THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET, a dark magical novel set in the world of Victorian pleasure gardens from an acclaimed writer.

_____________________
Welcome to the Winter Garden. Open only at 13 o'clock.

You are invited to enter an unusual competition.

I am looking for the most magical, spectacular, remarkable pleasure garden this world has to offer.

On the night her mother dies, 8-year-old Beatrice receives an invitation to the mysterious Winter Garden. A place of wonder and magic, filled with all manner of strange and spectacular flora and fauna, the garden is her solace every night for seven days. But when the garden disappears, and no one believes her story, Beatrice is left to wonder if it were truly real.

Eighteen years later, on the eve of her wedding to a man her late father approved of but she does not love, Beatrice makes the decision to throw off the expectations of Victorian English society and search for the garden. But when both she and her closest friend, Rosa, receive invitations to compete to create spectacular pleasure gardens - with the prize being one wish from the last of the Winter Garden's magic - she realises she may be closer to finding it than she ever imagined.

Now all she has to do is win.

  • Published: 2 September 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473582644
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 528
Categories:

About the author

Alex Bell

Alex Bell always wanted to be a writer but had several different back-up plans to ensure she didn’t end up in the poor house first. For some years these ranged from dolphin trainer to animal shelter vet but then, at fifteen, she had an epiphany involving John and Robert Kennedy and decided to become a lawyer instead.

To that end she eagerly started a Law Degree only to find it so boring that she was at a very real risk of going completely insane. To mitigate this she started writing again. Now she happily dwells in an entirely make-believe world of blood, death, madness, murder and mayhem. The doctors have advised that it is best not to disturb her, for she appears to be happy there.

Praise for The Winter Garden

A mesmerising, stunningly crafted story of loss and the importance of dreams

Waterstones

An entertaining and thought provoking fable

SFX

Compelling reading in this dark but enchanting historical fantasy

Daily Mail

An enchanting and moving story of love, loss and rivalry . . . the perfect novel to read as autumn settles upon our gardens and the icy chill of winter begins to creep in

Culturefly

Interweaves darkness and whimsy, using the contrasts of painful reality and sparkling magic.

Fantasy Hive