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Libby hopes to find a way forward in the house which has happy childhood memories and the magical garden created and maintained by Elfrida Erica James is an award-winning British author of romance, contemporary, and general fiction stories. She has written several bestselling single novels in her career, including Love & Devotion, Airs & Graces, Hidden Talents, A Breath of Fresh Air, Gardens of Delight, Act of Faith, etc. In addition to these, she has also penned an anthology called What A Woman Wants in collaboration with Maureen Lee and Donna Hay. In 2006, Erica won the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Novel of the Year Award for her book, Gardens of Delight. After that, she won a lot more success in her career as readers all over the world began noticing her work and reading her novels with more interest. Author Erica was born Erica Sullivan in Surrey, England in 1960. She was brought up on Hayling Island, Hampshire, where her family had relocated when she was 4 years old. It was so easy to feel emotionally attached to the three lead women in this story. All are very likeable – actually, that goes for the siblings of Elfrida and Bess and Libby’s mum too – even though they are harridans (and yes, they are cold and emotionally unavailable for a reason). We witness the passion for creating gardens that sees a character feeling at one with nature. And there is also a grande passion that not even death can break. Life is for living. We need to make the most of each day because we never know when life will be cruelly cut short.
Bess herself lives with Elfirda the woman she became a maid to when she was a teenager, although now it is more of a friendship, than master and servant. Though Liby may be running from the present she may find a lot more about their past and how it affects her. This enticing cover had me excited to read this new release from Erica James. The books I have read by this author (so far!) have all been really enjoyable, but I found that this one didn’t capture my heart in quite the same way. I wonder if it is because it is a little similar to a recent book I have read: following a family over decades with secrets being revealed along the way.
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
I loved travelling around the world in the past with Elfrida (and Bess) as she designs the gardens – the glitz and the glamour and the olde world feel. At home, during the war and afterwards, life is harsh but their indomitable spirits get them through. Seeing these women grow together and Libby’s healing was quite therapeutic to read. Coupled with this, the writer’s descriptions of the gardens sounded amazing and I actually found myself having green-fingered envy! Yet, whilst the grounds that Elfrida has designed seem perfect, life has become the juxtaposition to this.
As you can imagine, the secrets all have emotional punches so be prepared to feel a host of emotions! There are some great characters to get your teeth into in this tale, but my favourites are Elfrida and Bess. A wonderful closeness grows up between them over the years after everything they have been through together, even though they begin the story in very different places socially. Elfrida has always been the unconventional rule breaker, misunderstood by almost everyone except Bess, and their fierce protectiveness of each other is enchanting. Their interactions give rise to many humorous and poignant episodes. The storyline covers a lot of ground not least with Elfrida’s gardening but we also see Love, Loss, devastation and numerous secrets that look set to rear their ugly heads. This really was a quaint and charming read with exceptional detail which made everything so easily to visualise. But for lifelong friends Bess and Elfrida, Libby’s arrival has stirred up the ghosts of the past. And before they can help her rebuild her shattered future, they must confront their own unspoken secrets, lost loves, and tragedies…Tragedy , loves and secrets accumulate over the years and when Libby arrives from London in a vulnerable state it seems a good time to try to confront the issues of the past. Another heartbreaking but glorious tale of secrets and love from the Sunday Times bestselling author Erica James… July, 1981. The country is working itself into a frenzy in the run-up to the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, but the last thing Libby wants to think about is weddings. Having just discovered, three weeks before their wedding, that her fiancé Marcus has been sleeping with her best friend Selina, Libby heads for the comforting presence of Larkspur House, the home of famous garden designer Elfrida Ambrose and Libby's great-aunt Bess - the only place where she has ever felt truly at home. A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James is an enchanting dual timeline novel about love and life, guilt and grief, and memories that keep us warm at night. You really get a sense with these women that they're having to deal with losing trust in people and are fearful of being deceived again, which makes it very difficult to move on and trust new people that come into their lives. I really loved the setting as the house and gardens are very much part of them as people and a place where they feel safe to start the trust process and dealing with the personal tragedies that they have faced.
This is a very old-fashioned novel. It's written in an old-fashioned way, and I say this because it contains characters who are privileged and 'other' to what we might consider to be 'everyday'. There's a big old house, left to Elfrida, and there's a Count who provides caviar and a special champagne from his brother's vault, on a boat, during a date. There's a mother who insists her daughter marries a man who has slept with someone else, and the man himself who thinks it's perfectly fine. For me, and I appreciate that Erica James has a massive following, this whole novel came perilously close to cliche, and the layer upon layer of stereotypical characters and situations were too distracting for me to enjoy it for what it is. Secondly, I think I missed the magic that other stories from James have given. I really appreciated the Italian setting but wondered if this could have been expanded further. A lot happens at Larkspur House in Suffolk, but I think I craved something more exotic at times, to reflect how colourful Bess and Elfrida’s lives have been. I felt a bit trapped in Suffolk, a bit like Bess does when she falls ill. For me, this meant the story was not as immersive as I had hoped, even though it is still a strong narrative. Today, Erica is a divorced mother of two sons, Samuel and Edward. Both of them have now grown up and support her in her writing interests. Erica now manages her time between her homes in Lake Como, Italy, and Suffolk, Cheshire. She claims to have developed an interest in writing romance stories after undertaking a course in creative writing organized by the Avon Foundation. Erica says that she has an insatiable appetite for interfering in the business of other people. That is why she often indulges in a conversation with unknown people with the hope that she will unearth something useful out of it that can be used in her writing material. When Libby finds her fiance Marcus in bed with her best friend Selina three weeks before her wedding, she flees London for the sanctuary of Larkspur House in Suffolk where her Great Aunt Bess lives with her friend Elfrida. I have not read an Erica James novel for a number of years but I was soon engrossed in the storyline and anyone who enjoys a family drama with some twists will find this a compelling read.
A dual timeline book between the 1980’s & 1920’s, a very well written book which drew me in from the start & had me devouring this engrossing read in two sittings. Dual timelines are not my favourite but the author certainly did a very good job of changing my mind. The characters have depth & were well portrayed &the pace is good. There was friendship spanning decades, tragedy & secrets as well as some twists & surprises. A delightful read which I recommend The story is set in the summer of 1981 when the country was gripped by Royal Wedding fever, and also in the 1920’s moving forwards. We see the action in both the first and third person from alternating points of view. Larkspur House felt like a character to me. It wrapped its magic around me (much like it did to Libby and Daniel) and I felt sad when I had to say goodbye.
Erica James does this by having the main story take place during the Summer of 1981 at a time when the then Prince Charles was marrying his first wife Lady Diana Spencer, which gave the novel a fixed period in time. A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James tells the story of Liby shortly before her wedding in 1981 she finds her fiance in bed with her best friend. However instead of going to her mum's house she escapes to her great-aunt Bess. Having caught her own fiancé in bed with her best friend just weeks before they were due to marry, she’s fled London for the comfort of the Suffolk countryside.
Erica James Book Releases 2023/2024
James floods this story with regret and aching loss, exploring how grief and misplaced guilt can divide families, and you feel every heart-wrenching moment with real force - especially the impact of these emotions on mental health. There is a lot of pain being carried around by these characters, and my heartstrings were well and truly tugged, but there is also romance, glamour, friendship and warmth - and over the course of the story the threads come together in forgiveness and hope. The Secret Garden Affair immerses you in the world of beautiful gardens, and difficult family relationships through the eyes of three women - young Libby who has had her heart broken, and the two characters who have been a steady influence on her throughout her life, Elfrida and Bess. Libby heads to Larkspur House looking for stability as a time when she cannot trust her own feelings, but little does she know that former socialite Elfrida and her close friend (and her former lady's maid) Bess have been keeping secrets from her too.
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