The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly is a novel worth your time but a novel you should not listen to on audio. This is due to the time periods and varying viewpoints, they will slide over your head when listening causing you to lose who is who and what has happened when. Read this as the continuous shift in narrator's will cause disjointed listening and the only downside is audio related as the novel itself is beautiful.

This is a story of the female and garden beauty. I love gardens and listening to the creation, the care, and the impact of nature always delights me. For those searching for a story about the importance of nature and finding oneself, this is worth an hour of your time.

The plot progression is the weakest part of The Last Garden in England because the transitions are confusing but again, could be only an audio-based problem. I could not tell the difference for the longest time between Emma and Venetia's storylines, I didn't even know Venetia existed until about halfway through the novel when I thought, wow - that's a bit antiquated for Emma to think and guess what, it was.

Overall, if you can distinguish between the time periods and don't mind occasional stops and starts in flow, this is a novel with a journey-based plot that will bring a smile to your face.

Emma, Venetia, Beth, Stella, and Diana are the storytellers supported by their love interests or relatives.

Emma and Venetia are similar in character. They both adore creating gardens and are strong women, their mirroring could be a juxtaposition regarding the time period each lived in.

Beth, Stella, and Diana's characters are intertwined but they themselves are unique. Beth is a young woman finding herself during wartime, Stella is a hard-working cook who aspires to live outside the walls of Highbury House, and Diana is the mistress of said house working hard to maintain power and strength as her home is transformed into a temporary hospital for soldiers.

All five are drawn together by the garden which easily can be argued as a character itself. It alters the characters and without it, there would be no story. Characters in this novel are wonderful to read about but only if you can figure out who is talking.

The Last Garden in England has a gorgeous and slightly predictable ending that does not detract from the pain and joy within the novel. I liked the ending and think you will too and it is a cumulation of all these things that makes this novel worth your time.

This is a bad novel to listen too, I was baffled by the character switches and the voice of Diana was so grating compared to the others that the flow of the story never actually flowed. After finally distinguishing the characters is when I found myself enjoying the story (surprise). I found The Last Garden in England to be a delight as I got to watch as the characters bloomed like the garden, all five found what they needed. Venetia found love and a home. Beth found love. Diana found purpose. Stella found freedom. Emma found a home. They all found what they needed and the gardens within Highbury helped them discover it.

I valued how the garden itself tied into the growth of each character as it was a place of expression, a location where all five found the strength to let go of what hurt them. I am also pretty certain these gardens are real and/or based on a large English mansions and are ones I would adore visiting because if they can bring me peace, I would like that a lot.