The French Gardener: A Novel

Loved the book! The love story was interesting an exciting, however there were too many garden and flower scenes for me.
I know the book was called the French Gardener, but if one is not into gardening that much and more into the love story, then sometimes it gets too flowery, but the love story is memorable, and worth reading for it alone.

Seriously? I read so many rave reviews of this and other books by the author. Most of the reviews I read cited it as eloquent, sensual, well crafted, etc. While I think anyone who can complete and publish a novel should get one star for determination, I found it to be barely well written, with unlikable unredeemable characters; the romance aspect was ungraceful, unimaginative, impossible to care about. I'm curious about her other well advertised novels, could they truly be as irritating as The French Gardener? I'm not sure I could part with more valuable time in order to find out.

The descriptive writing in this book is unbelievable...you can picture the gardens, the people and the houses. The characters are all well drawn and you find yourself drawn in to them and their lives. A wonderful read...hated to see it end.

I can always count on Santa Montefiore to deliver a story which captivates me and consistently delights me. Again she has done this in The French Gardener. A perfect holiday read or weekend escape...

excellent storyline, I just wanted to keep reading. The author makes you feel you are truly connected with the characters and you want the story to keep going.
Because of this book I then read 4 others by this author which were equally as good.

A sweet good-feeling little romantic story that encourages one to appreciate all the aspects of nature. I mainly read light mystery books but need a reality check every so often and this book did it. I will certainly read others written by this author

Imagined myself in France, couldn't put this book down. The storyline was great from finish to end. The characters came alive for me and I actually felt like I was in the English countryside. Love Santa Montefiore. Great read !!!

It was an interesting book involving family relations as well as love themes and strong emotions and it describes life in the English countryside very well, something that I have seen and recognize from my many long visits to the U.K.

The French Gardener: A Novel

I basically purchased this book because of the positive reviews I read on the store. And while the book has a certain charm it is was not of the caliber that I had hoped. First off, the book gets off to a very, very slow start, to the point where I was tempted to put it down. However, I hate starting books and not completing so, I read on. Sure enough the last quarter of the book picked up.

Here is the problem, the book reads like a drug store paperback. You know the kind you took away to the beach when you were 14 and dying for a little romance. The characters are not developed, the plot is silly, and you know how the book is going to end 100 pages before you get there. I was not looking for War and Peace but, give me a little intellect. The most fun in the book is listening to the main character Miranda talk about the goodies in her closet, Jimmy Choo, Prada, Gucci ect... but I wasn't reading the Devil Wears Prada! Nor do I want to. The book I read before this was The Help. Which was an extraordinary, rich character driven novel. That may have been why I was so disappointed it was like going from a fine crisp Montrachet to a glass of Boone's Farm strawberry wine. Only a 14 year old could love it!

I was looking forward to receiving a book in "used-very good condition" and was very disapponted. Books looks very used, pages bent and cover wrinkled. Sorry, no great review this time.
Sincerely, Claudia Snyder

I initially picked up this book because of the uplifting and beautiful cover, but was pleasantly surprised by the unusual content and the wonderful story telling with realistic and well-described characters. Although I don’t read romance novels since they seem to have unrealistic stories with superficial characters to me. This romance novel has stories of two families who live in the same estate house outside a small village in English country side three decades apart. What both families have in common is a French gardener, who happens to be a millionaire with an estate of his own in France and who had an unforgettable love affair with the married woman in the late 1970s. The main characters in the book are all very good looking, wealthy, and successful, just like in all romance novels, in addition the husband and the wife who live in the house in 2005 seem superficial, self-absorbed, and very materialistic, but the resemblance to romance novel ends there since the author seems to have an amazing understanding of human nature because she is able to describe the humans’ dark sides, weaknesses, and imperfections as well as the loving nature. The quirky characters who live in the village and finally become an extension of the family is a nice touch.

While the ending of the first story has such an unexpected but realistic twist, the ending of the story about the second family is just like a romance novel: a feel good but an unrealistic ending. Although this book is quite long ( over four hundred pages), I enjoyed reading it so much because of the writing style of the book which reads like poetry, storytelling that flows so well, and amazing descriptions of the complexities of human nature and interpersonal relationships. I would give this book five stars if it were not for Gus, seven year old son of the family, who enjoys torturing helpless animals and blow by blow description of how he tears spiders apart before killing them. Not only this had nothing to add to the book, but it made me sick to my stomach and took away some of the enjoyment from reading the book. Over all, this is an entertaining and well-written book by a talented author, and I plan on reading more of her books.