The Daughter’s Garden Kate Hewitt. Book No 2 in a quartet

Reading the books in sequence helps and I was fortunate that Netgalley sent me the four. Eleanor and Katherine are the daughters of a well to do family. George and Anna are conservative parents but not hidebound, but they do expect staying within the boundaries of expected polite behaviour of the times. WWI is ending and the family is awaiting joyously the return of their son from the Front and his best friend James, who is Katherine's fiancee as well. Joy turns to grief when the dreaded telegram arrives that Walter has died. Each family member deals with it in the manner they know best. This is the catalyst of the story. The story while outlining the life that follows for each member, focuses primarily on Eleanor. How her attempts to come to terms with her brothers death, her animosity towards those who have survived, her ambivalent feelings towards her sister who has thrown herself into charitable works, her solace in turning the extensive gardens into a memorial for her brother and her falling in love with the gardener, someone whom her parents will never come to accept. The story is descriptive of the turbulent times England was thrown into post WWI - nothing was the same and it took ages to get back to a semblance of normality. It highlighted distinct class divisions which began to be eroded at that time. It also showed resilience of the human spirit to survive, grit one's teeth and go on. most importantly that Love can conquer all. Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.