"The Garden in the Light"

A work assignment takes garden photographer Alina Rosen to the Côte d’Azur. In the exotic gardens of Menton, the “Lemon City” of France, she discovers a clue about her real grandfather, Antoine de Montagne. It was only her grandmother Helena’s estate that had revealed this surprise. The two had fallen in love in Berlin in the 1950s and planned a future together in Paris. But their paths tragically diverged. For her entire life, Helena had kept silent about her love for the French art historian. Who was this man? Why had he never gotten in touch and left Helena in the lurch? Alina does everything in her power to unravel the hidden lives of Antoine and Helena. In the process, she is handed a mysterious manuscript. It contains hints that Beatrice von Rothschild, a Belle Époque art collector, and her legendary garden on the Cap Ferrat peninsula, as well as a painting by Claude Monet, have something to do with Alina’s family history.

The novel captures the magic of the Côte d’Azur and takes readers to fairy-tale gardens, grand hotels, and villas.

Elena Eden tells family and love stories set along mysterious garden paths. She studied history in Munich, Paris, and Rome and works as a screenwriter. When she’s not writing, she enjoys visiting gardens or tending to her own.