In this heartwarming and
feel-good novel filled with echoes of Dorothea Benton Frank, Debbie Macomber
and Elizabeth Berg, two women separated by a generation but equally scarred by
war find hope, meaning – and each other – through a garden of heirloom flowers.
Iris Maynard lost her
husband in World War II, her daughter to loneliness and, finally, her reason to
live. Walled off from the world for decades behind a towering fence surrounding
her home and gardens, the former botanist has built a new family...of flowers.
Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to an heirloom garden
filled with starts – and memories – of her own mother, grandmother, husband and
daughter.
When Abby Peterson
moves to Grand Haven, Michigan, with her family – a husband traumatized during
his service in the Iraq War and a young daughter searching for stability – they
find themselves next door to Iris, and are slowly drawn into her reclusive
neighbour's life where, united by loss and a love of flowers, Iris and Abby
slowly unearth their secrets to each other. Eventually, the two teach one
another that the earth grounds us all, gardens are a grand healer, and as
flowers bloom so do our hopes and dreams.
Buy Links
Click here to read an excerpt: https://bit.ly/3bTfhw3
About the Author
Viola Shipman is
the pen name for Wade Rouse, a popular, award-winning memoirist. Rouse chose
his grandmother's name, Viola Shipman, to honor the woman whose heirlooms and
family stories inspire his writing. Rouse is the author of The Summer Cottage, as well as The Charm Bracelet and The Hope Chest which have been
translated into more than a dozen languages and become international
bestsellers. He lives in Saugatuck, Michigan and Palm Springs, California, and
has written for People, Coastal
Living, Good Housekeeping,
and Taste of Home, along with other
publications, and is a contributor to All Things Considered.
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