The Forbidden Garden

Herrick’s second novel takes place nearly a year after the events of her 2015 debut, The Sparrow Sisters. Eldest sibling Sorrel, one of three gifted New England gardeners, is invited by a friend’s brother, Graham, Lord Kirkwood, to rescue a purportedly cursed Shakespearean garden on his family property in the English countryside. She gets along famously with Graham’s wife Stella and their daughter, Poppy, and it becomes clear that Sorrel will fall for Andrew Warburton, Stella’s heartbroken, grouchy brother, a vicar who’s lost his faith. While the family cheers on their union, Sorrel worries that Andrew might be under a spell triggered by one of her sister’s potent herbal remedies. Meanwhile, she and Poppy investigate the family’s dark history and its ties to the fallow plot that Sorrel hopes to bring back to life. They’re helped by the family’s protective longtime groundskeeper, as well as Delphine, an old friend who aids the pair in decoding a series of mysterious tapestries and the secrets of Graham’s shady ancestors. Sorrel doesn’t believe in curses, but it seems like this curse might be real. This book would have been plenty interesting without the love story, which feels rote and pales in comparison to the unfurling of the novel’s mysteries. Nonetheless, Herrick manages to deftly tie everything together. (Apr.)