DEEPLY PERSONAL INSPIRATION
When my Nana turned twenty one, her beloved father told her that she wasn't his biological child.
I don't know whether he could have imagined the impact this news would have,
and I certainly never spoke directly with my Nana about it, but it was a life-changing
event for her-discovering that she wasn't who she had thought she was.
Nana never told anyone else, keeping the truth about her parentage secret from her
friends and sisters until she was a very old lady and decided, finally, to tell her three daughters.
In The Forgotten Garden, Nell experiences a similar event. In Nell's case, however,
discovering that she was a foundling is completely identity-shattering.
She withdraws from her family and friends, breaks off her engagement,
and spends the rest of her life on a quest to discover her true identity.