While in college at Duke University, Sophie saw a documentary about Lilymoor House & Gardens up in Maine. The beauty of the gardens, the mazes, even the legendary stories about the magic to be found intrigued her completely. She and her best friend Harriett visited during their senior year and were utterly obsessed. They made a promise to return 10 years later.
Ten years later, Sophie is a horticulturist for the New York Botanical Garden. She gets a summer job at Lilymoor, helping prepare the estate’s gardens for its bicentennial celebration. Working at Lilymoor is everything she dreamed it would be, and she quickly falls in love with its grounds, its staff, and Eula Beck, the spry and crafty old woman who owns the place.
There are definitely mysteries she can’t quite figure out, including the origin of vines that threaten to kill the hedges. But one evening she finds a door that she’s never seen before. It leads to an unfinished garden no one seems to know about. And there’s a handsome man who seems to be stuck there. But the door is never in the same place twice.
As the celebration draws closer, the estate’s quirks prove endearing and frustrating. Eula plans to retire but is quiet about what she plans to do with Lilymoor. And Sophie wants to help free the man from the garden, but not her heart.
There are a lot of separate storylines that take a while to gel and pick up momentum. I felt like the book really hit its stride in the last third or so, and there’s lots of emotion to be had. The supporting characters, including Damnit, the ornery goose, are endearing as well.
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