The beginning was very confusing with far too many characters, I had to take notes to work out all the relationships. The background and settings are very familiar to me and I enjoyed that part but I almost gave up at the beginning, I persevered though and all was well in the end. ( )

Jess, who has just finished university, has won a prestigious prize which gives her the opportunity of a year off. In meeting Kate the widow of the prize donor, she finds herself staying in a village in Devon for a while, where she meets a large number of connected people, and feels herself oddly at home.

I always enjoy books by Marcia Willett, but sometimes find her huge cast of characters to be rather confusing. Many of those in this book are old friends from previous novels; I recognised Kate and Cass, Guy and Gemma, and others who recur with a new set of problems. But it's hard to keep them all in my head.

However, the author does tell a good story, and I found myself quickly caught up in Jess's narrative, and also rooting for Guy and Gemma. I skimmed parts about boats or the navy - these books are set in a world far removed from my own - and tried to ignore the assumptions about boarding schools.

I liked this much more on re-reading seven years after I first read it. Recommended if you like gentle, character-based women's fiction - but read a few of the author's earlier books first.

Latest full review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-sea-garden-by-marcia-willett.ht... ( )