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Back The Winter Garden
Chapters (54)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. ALSO BY ALEXANDRA BELL
  4. DEDICATION
  5. Prologue
  6. Part One
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. Part Two
  15. CHAPTER EIGHT
  16. CHAPTER NINE
  17. CHAPTER TEN
  18. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  19. CHAPTER TWELVE
  20. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. Part Three
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. Acknowledgements
  54. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

September 1836

Dear Beatrice,

I would send the book, but I fear it is too heavy for the pigeon to carry such a vast distance, and I’d hate to trust it to the international post. It’s so unreliable, and an old book like this would not like such rough treatment. It is quite delicate in places. Don’t worry! It will be here waiting for you as soon as you return home to England. Certain developments mean that I may well be making England my permanent home in the future. I hope to say more of that in due course!

Your friend,

Rosa

September 1836

Dear Rosa,

I have decided to be frank with you. I was utterly astonished to receive your letter regarding the pop-up book. You see, I lied when I said that I had owned such a volume as a child. It was all I could think of when you questioned me about the peacock.

The truth is, the Winter Garden does not merely exist within the pages of a child’s book – it is real. It came to the grounds of Half Moon House when I was only a girl, shortly after losing my mother. It was also around the time my father sent me for that dreadful surgical procedure, which was meant to correct my stutter but simply had the effect of almost robbing me of my capacity for speech for good. I could not speak a word at that time.

So, you see, the book you describe is my own story, and I do not understand how it can possibly exist in such a form. I never told another living soul about the garden, except for my nanny and father, neither of whom believed me.

Your perplexed friend,

Beatrice

September 1836

Dear Beatrice,

I was most charmed to receive your last letter. My dear, you can’t honestly believe what you wrote to me about the garden? I’m sure you must be pulling my leg, you wicked creature!

Of course you must have owned the book as a child, and it so affected your imagination that I can well believe you would play at discovering the Winter Garden for real. But, honey, that’s all it could ever have been – just child’s play or a particularly vivid dream. How wondrous it would be if such a place could actually exist, though! I regret it cannot be so in this world of ours.

I hope you are keeping well and haven’t fallen into any more pits full of spikes!

Your affectionate friend,

Beatrice