The Winter Garden

For readers of THE TOYMAKERS and THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET, a dark magical novel set in the world of Victorian pleasure gardens from an acclaimed writer.

An entertaining and thought provoking fable

Compelling reading in this dark but enchanting historical fantasy

An enchanting and moving story of love, loss and rivalry . . . the perfect novel to read as autumn settles upon our gardens and the icy chill of winter begins to creep in

A mesmerising, stunningly crafted story of loss and the importance of dreams

Interweaves darkness and whimsy, using the contrasts of painful reality and sparkling magic.

Alexandra Bell studied Law at university and signed her first book deal at nineteen. Since then, she has written multiple books for both adults and young people. She works at a legal advice charity and lives in Hampshire with her husband, sons, and Sphynx cats.

_____________________ 
Welcome to the Winter Garden. Open only at 13 o'clock. 
 
You are invited to enter an unusual competition. 
 
I am looking for the most magical, spectacular, remarkable pleasure garden this world has to offer. 
 
On the night her mother dies, 8-year-old Beatrice receives an invitation to the mysterious Winter Garden. A place of wonder and magic, filled with all manner of strange and spectacular flora and fauna, the garden is her solace every night for seven days. But when the garden disappears, and no one believes her story, Beatrice is left to wonder if it were truly real. 
 
Eighteen years later, on the eve of her wedding to a man her late father approved of but she does not love, Beatrice makes the decision to throw off the expectations of Victorian English society and search for the garden. But when both she and her closest friend, Rosa, receive invitations to compete to create spectacular pleasure gardens - with the prize being one wish from the last of the Winter Garden's magic - she realises she may be closer to finding it than she ever imagined. 
 
Now all she has to do is win.

Alexandra Bell

Effortlessly weaves mystery, romance, and a hint of magic into a captivating tapestry of love, tragedy, and time.

Cassandra Clare, No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Sword Catcher and The Shadowhunter Chronicles

Beautiful and bittersweet . . .  The convincing, emotional love story, lavish settings, and a wealth of spooky side characters make this sing.

An exquisite, fantastical puzzle box of a novel in which love, art, and magic are inescapably bound up with the trauma of childhood loss and war.

Kelly Link, bestselling author of The Book of Love

A delightful read for lovers of time-slip fiction, vintage aesthetics, and whimsical mysteries.

The White Octopus Hotel is not like anything you’ve ever read before. It’s a completely fresh, brilliantly imaginative way of welcoming us, with all our fear, grief, and guilt, into a fabulous, unpredictable, enchanting world where love is the magic that transforms us all.

Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Summer Light on Nantucket

I may have cried while reading this in public. But that’s just proof of how good it is!

Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps in this spellbinding historical romance blending mystery, art, romance and time travel 
 
'A captivating tapestry of love, tragedy, and time.' Cassandra Clare, bestselling author of Swordcatcher 
'An exquisite, fantastical puzzle box of a novel.' Kelly Link, bestselling author of The Book of Love 
'Beautiful and bittersweet time travel fantasy' Publishers' Weekly 
_________________________________ 
 
‘Have you travelled a long way?’ she asked carefully. 
A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. ‘Well, yes,” he said slowly. ‘Yes, you could say that. But it was worth the wait.’ 
 
London, 2015 
 
When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her London office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her. 
 
His name is Max Everly – curiously, the same name as Eve’s favourite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she can’t shake the feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when? 
 
The White Octopus Hotel, 1935 
 
Decades earlier, high in the snowy Swiss Alps, Eve and a young Max Everly wander the winding halls of the grand belle epoque White Octopus Hotel, lost in time. 
 
Each of them has been through the trenches – Eve in a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War – but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door. 
 
_________________________________READERS LOVE THE WHITE OCTOPUS HOTEL 
'Five gloriously mind-bending, time-traveling stars from me!' 
 
'Gorgeous GORGEOUS book. I'm in love' 
 
'I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.' 
 
'An exciting, touching, and hopeful magical love story' 
 
'Alexandra Bell owns a slice of my heart.'

Alexandra Bell

Praise for The White Octopus Hotel

Effortlessly weaves mystery, romance, and a hint of magic into a captivating tapestry of love, tragedy, and time.

Beautiful and bittersweet . . . The convincing, emotional love story, lavish settings, and a wealth of spooky side characters make this sing.

An exquisite, fantastical puzzle box of a novel in which love, art, and magic are inescapably bound up with the trauma of childhood loss and war.

Effortlessly weaves mystery, romance, and a hint of magic into a captivating tapestry of love, tragedy, and time.

Beautiful and bittersweet . . . The convincing, emotional love story, lavish settings, and a wealth of spooky side characters make this sing.

An exquisite, fantastical puzzle box of a novel in which love, art, and magic are inescapably bound up with the trauma of childhood loss and war.

Effortlessly weaves mystery, romance, and a hint of magic into a captivating tapestry of love, tragedy, and time.

Beautiful and bittersweet . . . The convincing, emotional love story, lavish settings, and a wealth of spooky side characters make this sing.

An exquisite, fantastical puzzle box of a novel in which love, art, and magic are inescapably bound up with the trauma of childhood loss and war.

Books by Alexandra Bell

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