The Garden of Evening Mists

Finished May 18

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

This literary novel is a slow-paced read, which I took my time over. In Malaya in 1951, the central character Yun Ling Teoh went to the Cameron Highlands area of Malaya to follow her sister's dream. She and her sister Yun Hong had been in a Japanese internment camp for three years, a remote camp that the prisoners didn't know the location of. Yun Ling was the only survivor of the camp, and she and her sister had kept their spirits up by talking about the Japanese gardens that they'd seen and what her sister wanted to create in her garden. Since the war ended, Yun Ling had worked for a few months as a researcher for the War Crimes Tribunal before getting a law degree at Cambridge. She returned to Malaya and became a deputy public prosecutor, but her unhappiness at the way the English-controlled government had dealt with the Japanese war crimes drove her feelings to become too vocal for her superiors. 

She is staying with a family friend, Magnus Pretorius and his wife Emily at their tea plantation, Majuba. She plans to visit out their neighbour, Aritomo, a Japanese man who had once been a gardener for the Japanese emperor and has been building his own garden, Yugiri, since coming to Malaya. She has asked him to design a garden for her sister, but he won't decide until they meet. 

Instead, Yun Ling becomes his apprentice, learning the craft of this type of garden by doing the work herself. She is the one who passes his instructions to the local workers, but she also works just as hard as they do. 

Thirty-six years after that first visit, Yun Ling returns to Yugiri after resigning from her position as a judge for the Supreme Court. She will be meeting with a Japanese historian specializing in wood block printing about using Aritomo's blocks in a book. She also meets her old friend Frederik, the nephew of Magnus, who now runs Majuba. Aritomo had bequeathed Yugiri and the copyright for all his writing and art to Yun Ling, but she hasn't visited in years and finds the house and garden both needing much work. 

The novel moves back and forth in time. In the early 1950s, Malaya was still ruled by the British, and there were communist rebels fighting in the jungle, killing the foreign estate owners, and causing unease across the country. In 1987, the country of Malaysia is independent, calm, and a tourist destination. 

We see how the relationship between Yun Ling and Aritomo grew as they worked together on the garden and how she dealt with her hatred of the Japanese through this growth of her abilities and outlook. There are still unanswered questions that Yun Ling must decide whether to pursue. And she must make plans herself, both for her own story, and that of Yugiri. 

This book is wonderful and eye-opening. The characters are complex and the story is as well. The writing brings the setting to life, not only the garden, but the Cameron highlands themselves. You can see the jungle, the forest mists, and the way that both Majuba and Yugiri have put their own visions on their land. This book made me reflect on many things as I read it. With themes of memory and forgiveness the book is one I will think of often. 

Secrets by Starlight

Finished April 5

Secrets by Starlight by J.R. Pearse Nelson

This is the first book in a series called Moon Garden Mysteries. Set in the small town of Crescent Bay on  the Northern California coast, the narrator Naomi Monday has inherited a large mansion called Covett House, a small museum called Museum of the Odd and Wondrous, and a gardening shop. She knew this was coming to her when her grandmother died, but she doesn't feel ready for it. She is recently divorced and lives in Sacramento, where she has an apartment and job. 

At first she is sure she is going to sell it all, but after a few days, where many things happen, she isn't so sure. 

One thing, a local woman called Cherise Tillson is murdered in the museum, and the police have a lot of questions. Another is that her grandmother's cat, who has been missing since her death, reappears and leads Naomi to discover a hidden key, a book that is part of a series written by her grandmother, and a secret garden that only appears at certain times. When Naomi enters the garden, she finds that there are things that expected of her, and that many creatures depend on her continuing a family tradition. 

As Naomi finds herself welcomed in town, and led to clues about the murder, she finds that this is a community she wants to be part of. 

This novel has elements of women's fiction, fantasy, and cozy mystery, which all come together in interesting ways. I enjoyed watching Naomi become more comfortable in herself and her situation and find a solution that will work for at least a while. I also, naturally, liked the cat and the role it played. 

This is a light read and promises for an interesting series. 

The Twilight Garden

Finished December 30

The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams

This novel is about community, human connection, and the healing properties of nature. Winston lives with his partner Lewis in a house in London that shares a garden with its neighbour. For a long time the neighbouring house was empty, but a woman, Bernice and her young son Sebastian have bought the house, renovated it, and moved in. The shared garden is neglected, and Winston has primarily used it to sit outside in an old wooden chair, smoke and think. Bernice thinks his chair is in a dangerous state of disrepair, disapproves of his smoking and seems to look down upon him. He has dubbed her the Queen of Sheba. 

The Winston starts to get enveloped through his mailbox, addressed to the young man at Number 79, and they contain old pictures and clippings of the garden and the two women who made it a community haven, Maya and Alma. Winston has fond memories of his mother and her garden, and begins to get inspired to bring the neglected space back to life. As he does so, he connects with young Sebastian and eventually with Bernice as well. 

Winston quit his job in a bank that he didn't enjoy and as a stop-gap began working in the local corner shop, that Sal and Angela own. He has become part of their family and spends time with them. Lewis and he met while he was working in the bank and Lewis has gone up through the ranks. Lately, he has worked late, including weekends, and Winston feels more alone. He is also missing other relationships, and has been pulling himself away from other people, so the gardening provides not only solace, but also a different means of connecting with him. 

Bernice is divorced from a very controlling man, and she has also retreated into herself, with the exception of her son. She has always dreamed of having a home with a garden and feels possessive of the space, and also protective of Sebastian. The forced sharing of the space is something she fights against initially, and we see her gradually open herself to new relationships and experiences. 

As we learn the story of the garden and the people that created it, we also see the current community and how Lewis and Bernice open themselves up again to happiness. A very enjoyable read. 

The Bone Garden

Finished July 8

The Bone Garden by Kate Ellis

This is book five in the Wesley Peterson series. This book is set around an excavation of a Renaissance era garden at an estate called Earlsacre Hall. The property was recently bought by a trust and they are restoring the main building as an arts centre and having the gardens brought back to what they were once. Local archeologists are working first to see what they find, and under a stone plinth that held a sundial they discover a body. While the local pathologist agrees that the body is likely hundreds of years old, it does look like it was a murder victim that was buried alive. When more bodies appear, the work gets delayed a bit, and things look for complicated for the historical situation. 

In the present day, a body is found in a nearby holiday park and the only clue that Wesley and his time can find is a newspaper cutting about the restoration at Earlsacre. Wesley has also had a call from a local lawyer requesting advice on a personal matter that he hasn't disclosed. They agree to meet at a cricket match they are both playing in, but the lawyer disappears and is later found murdered. 

Neil appears here as well, coming in to assist with the archeology work at the site. 

Rachel, another police officer, also takes a role here both professionally and personally as she is part of the murder investigations, and finds a new attractive man that seems to be interested in her. 

I really enjoy this series, seeing how the different central characters react, and how they are changed by the experiences they have. I also like how the police characters lives are rounded out by there personal lives, whether is is Wesley's wife Pam preparing to return to teaching, or Wesley's superior talking about his choir rehearsals. 

The archeological story is also interesting, especially as it might have a personal connection to Wesley's family. The bodies date back to the struggle between the York and Lancaster lines of the royal family, which is a time period I find interesting. 

The Guest

Finished June 27

The Guest by B.A. Paris

A twisty mysterious suspenseful tale of the type I've come to expect from B.A. Paris. The couple at the center of this novel, Iris and Gabriel have been married a long time. Their daughter Beth is taking a gap year volunteering in Turkey for an organization that works with abandoned and abused dogs. 

Recently Gabriel was the first one on the scene when a teenager, Charlie died after going over the edge of a nearby quarry. Charlie was still alive and said some things to Gabriel before he died. Gabriel had coached Charlie a few years back, and was deeply affected by this tragic experience. He is now on leave from his medical practice for an indeterminate time. Iris has a home-based business where she works with homeowners to decorate and furnish their spaces. The experience that Gabriel had has made for a distance in their marriage. 

As the novel begins, they arrive home a day early from their holidays and find an old friend Laure in their home. Laure is distraught, and says that Pierre, her husband has told her he had a child with someone and has just discovered her. He hasn't told Laure who the woman is, but Laure has suspicions. Iris had long wanted children, but Pierre did not, so she feels very betrayed at this point and is trying to figure out what she wants to do. As Iris tries to escape Laure's presence, she finds new friends in the village, a couple near her age that recently moved into a large property that had been abandoned for years. Hugh and Esme are in a second marriage for both of them, with Hugh widowed with a grown child and Esme divorced. Esme is now pregnant and eager to make new friends as well as bring the old house back to life. Along with them is Joseph a gardener that Esme's parents knew, who has recently lost his job. Joseph is helping with the grounds of the house. 

As the friendship begins, the presence of both Laure and Joseph bring tension to the atmosphere. Most of the characters have secrets that they haven't shared that will soon come to be uncovered, unless circumstances allow them to stay secret. 

There is lots of suspense here, with tension between many of the characters, and the ending is unexpected and unnerving. A real page-turner. 

Perfectly Undone

Finished May 15

Perfectly Undone by Jamie Raintree

Set in Portland, Oregon, this is a story of self-awareness and dealing with trauma from the past. The main character, Dylan Michels has worked hard to get where she is, a ob/gyn doctor at the Women's Clinic. She has a deep desire to do research in the area of early detection of pregnancy issues, like ectopic pregnancies. Her older sister Abby died from an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy when she was a teen, and this is a big part of what drives her. 

Dylan lives with her partner Cooper, a pediatrician, and they had long planned to marry. As the book opens, Cooper is proposing, but Dylan finds herself unable to commit. As the two go through weeks of bad communication, it becomes clear that there is a secret about Dylan and her sister that lie at the heart of Dylan's inability to choose happiness. 

I found Dylan interesting. In the scenes in the clinic and hospital, it is clear that she is respected by her fellow doctors and the other staff. She is a good doctor, focused on her patients and their concerns. Her buried trauma around her sister has led her to where she is, but also left her unable to move on. 

None of the other characters here have the depth of Dylan. Whether it is Cooper, the nurse Enrique, Dylan's boss Vanessa, patients like Erika, or her friend Megan, we don't see enough of them to get a real sense of them as people. 

There is an interesting plotline of the landscaping that Cooper has given Dylan as a gift. As the landscape architect Reese creates the garden from Dylan's short burst of input, we see how it relates to Dylan as well. 

French Dirt

Finished May 30

French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France by Richard Goodman

This book is about the time the author spent in a small village in southern France. It was a twelve month period, where he and his girlfriend rented a large stone house (owned by an American couple who had renovated what had previously been a silkworm nursery). He had planned for several months in advance to budget enough money to afford to do this, and they were watching their money carefully. 

At first, they walk around the village and surrounding area, and watch the people, and then they begin to reach out to their neighbours and ask questions and learn about things. 

Richard gets to know the man, Jules, who will help him make a garden of his own (the first he's ever had) when he trades his labour for firewood for the winter. The area is one of many vineyards, most of which get made into supermarket wine, and the wood he gets is mostly old vines, which suit the purpose admirably. His labour is in one of these vineyards, clearing out stones and other impediments to the vines with a group of local farmers. Richard spent his life in large American cities mostly in apartments where he didn't have an opportunity to garden, but he'd been interested since he was a child following his grandmother's gardener around when she visited his parents home near the ocean in the summer. He is in his forties when he has this experience, but it made a huge impact on his life. He changed the name of the village to protect the privacy of the villagers he became friends with over the year, many of whom he remains friends with still.

His Dutch girlfriend Igminia plays a minor role here, and it seems that their relationship didn't last much longer, but the focus of the book is on the village and the garden. He talks about the house, the village, the people that he met while living there, and the garden he created. You definitely get a good sense of the amount of work he put into the garden, visiting it twice daily and spending several hours there. He mostly borrowed the tools he needed, and he had to haul water from a nearby stream, and later, during the hottest part of the summer in August, had to borrow water storage containers and pump water into them from a river with the help of Jules. He asks for advice from his new friends, watches them garden, and works in local gardens as well. 

You can see the love his has for this activity and its results. I really enjoyed this book.

The Sparrow Sisters

Finished July 24
The Sparrow Sisters by Ellen Herrick

This book takes place in a small seaside town in New England called Granite Point. The town's only doctor has recently retired and sold his practice to Henry Carlyle, a doctor who has previously worked in emergency medicine in Boston and in the military in Afghanistan. He has a leg injury and a back story that is gradually revealed.
The town's residents are friendly and close knit. Among them are three sisters who live together in the house that they grew up in, and who run a garden business selling plants, flowers, and produce. There were four sisters, but one died of cancer, under the care of the retiring doctor. The youngest sister Patience (from Impatiens) has a touch that she may have inherited from an ancestor who was accused of being a witch. Patience uses the herbs and other plants they grow to make tonics that many people in the town rely on. The new doctor is a bit taken aback by this practice, but when he meets Patience, they have a connection that they both acknowledge.
The other two sisters, Sorrel and Nettie are protective of Patience and also have their own personal connections to men in the town that they've never acted upon. There is also a young boy in town, whose mother died and whose father isn't coping well. He hangs around the gardening business a lot and Patience has taken him under her wing, teaching him plants and giving him cookies from the amazing bakery in town. He's got some health issues and when he's off his meds, Patience has used a tonic to help and also tried to get his father to step up.
One interesting thing that becomes a plot point is the way that Patience's moods manifest. Different herbal scents come off her due to her mood, and the weather seems to be affected as well. Her body temperature fluctuates as another sign of what's happening to her internally.
When a tragedy hits the town and a local reacts emotionally, a county prosecutor sets his sights on Patience and things get really crazy in town.
I found this book fascinating and I liked the way that the people in the town reacted under the pressure, particularly the women.

Life in the Studio

Finished July 23
Life in the Studio: Inspirations and Lessons on Creativity by Frances Palmer

This inspirational book features glimpses inside the studio, house, and gardens of successful potter Frances Palmer. The book is arranged into 3 parts and is full of photographs. There are also recipes in each section.
Part one is "Begin as You Mean to Go On" and talks about the importance of awareness. She covers centering, self-reliance, and inspiration. Palmer talks about the types of clay that she works with: white earthenware, terracotta, and porcelain. She goes on to discuss processes including glazes, throwing, handbuilding, and finishing (handles, pedestals, beading, holes, ruffles, fluting, sculptural gestures, drawing, and painting. She also discusses value here.
Part two is "Routine is Everything" and here she talks about where and how she works, showing her workspace setup, both now and earlier in her career. She shows the tools she uses and talks about how she uses them, and she talks about her agenda and how she plans her time. Also in this section is an extensive discussion about her garden. She is particularly interested in Dahlias, and shows a wide variety of types that she has growing. One thing in this section that I found enlightening was the idea of embracing the random. She shows how she creates and uses flower molds in her work. Along with her garden, she also talks about beekeeping as she has ventured into that area at her home. The final thing in this section is deadlines and how to use them.
Part three is "Looking Forward" and her she covers a number of things about her career. First is how she does open studios and why she's made the decisions she has around this. She discusses the various collaborations that she's engaged in, and how she approaches these. There is a great visual how-to on arranging a bouquet, along with how she documents her work. She moves on to how she expanded to encompass other things in her work and how she photographs her work, preferring to do it herself as others don't see her creations as she does. This leads naturally into listening to your inner voice. She ventures back into the garden again with a visual on forcing bulbs. She reminds us to be kind to ourselves and to keep learning and growing.
This was a great overview of her work, but also provided insight into how one might approach one's own creative ventures.

The Garden of Small Beginnings

Finished July 13
The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

Lilian Girvan is a single mom, widowed suddenly three years earlier when her husband Dan was killed in a car accident near home. She's always been close to her sister Rachel, but when she collapsed in mourning following the accident, Rachel stepped in to support her and look after Lilian's two young daughters. Now, Annabel is 7 and Clare is 5. Lilian works as an illustrator for a small textbook publisher, Poplar Press. She also has a lovable dog named Frank and a long-time babysitter named Leah. Rachel works for an art importer, and plays the field.
Lilian has recently been asked to take on the illustration job for a book on vegetables by the Bloom Company, which sells flowers and seeds. One of the corporate owners is running a free gardening course on Sundays over six weeks at the local botanical gardens, and Lilian's boss wants her to go. While children are allowed, Lilian asks Rachel to look after the girls, but Rachel thinks it is a better idea to come along.
The group taking the course is small, consisting of two retired teachers, Francis and Eloise; a retired banker, Gene; a young man who seems into nature, Mike; and a single mom Angie, who brings along her 5-year-old son Bash after the first week. The teacher is also young, part of the Dutch family who owns the company, Edward. There is also an assistant, who helps with a lot of the physical work and garden preparation, Bob, whom the women immediately dub "impossibly handsome."
The dynamic between these characters make up the substance of the book as when Lilian asks Edward for advice improving her own garden, the group takes turns going to each member's home after their weekly class and doing a project on each garden.
Each chapter starts with helpful gardening advice, and there is lots of humour in the plot.
A feel-good novel about the power of nature and friendship to heal.

The Girls in the Garden

Finished March 26
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

This novel follows eleven-year-old Pip as she and her older sister Grace and mother Clare move into a terrace house in a new neighbourhood of London. The family is still in shock after Pip and Grace's dad had a mental health breakdown that resulted in him burning down their home. He is in hospital getting the help he needs, and they must start over with everything gone. Pip is steadfast in missing her father, writing him letters about their lives and new home, and observing the world around her. Grace is angry and scared and at the age where she is looking for her own identity. Clare is fearful of what lies ahead, afraid of what she saw in her husband in his mental breakdown, and worried about managing everything.
Their new home backs onto a large communal park and the girls soon find their way among the other residents. Grace begins hanging out with 5 other kids around the same age: three sisters Catkin, Fern and Willow, another girl Tyler, and a boy Dylan. She hangs out a lot at the sisters' house, liking their parents, Leo and Adele. Adele home schools the girls. As the action begins, the sisters grandfather has come to visit from Africa as his diabetes now requires amputation of one of his feet.
Pip is more of a loner, not feeling comfortable with the other kids, or their parents. Something about Leo doesn't feel right to her. She befriends and older woman with a pet rabbit, and from her learns the history behind the girl memorialized on a nearby bench, Phoebe. Pip is a quiet girl, watchful and sensitive, an important role in this story.
At the annual part party, there is much going on, music, face painting, a barbeque, and as it is also Grace's thirteenth birthday, Clare has let her have more freedom than normal. When the day grows later, Pip searches for her sister, finding her unconscious and bloody in discomforting circumstances. What happened to Grace and who is responsible is the focus of the story.
We see the interaction of both the adults, teens, and preteens here, and how relationships change and develop with the arrival of this new family in the neighbourhood. I liked the way the characters were each so different. None of them perfect.

Bindweed

Finished September 27
Bindweed by Janis Harrison

This mystery is part of a series featuring flower shop owner Bretta Solomon. Set in River City, Missouri this series is billed as gardening mysteries.
A young man with developmental disabilities, and who has lived on his own since his mother died is the first victim. Toby seems harmless, making spending money by working for a number of town merchants that his mother introduced him to before her death. Toby sweeps sidewalks, washes windows and does other small odd jobs. But someone considered him enough of a threat to kill him in a particularly nasty way. As Bretta thinks back on comments Toby made earlier in the day, and other shopkeepers tell her their thoughts, she starts to make connections between the missing plants in his mother's garden and Toby's death. When another victim is also killed in a particularly nasty case of poisoned bubble bath, Bretta worries that a recent unexplained gift of toiletries to her store may also be suspect.
Meanwhile at home, Bretta's father seems inordinately involved in the design of the house's bedrooms and seems to be spending a lot of time with the young woman proposing the work plan. Bretta can't help but wonder what the relationship is between her father and the young woman.
An interesting mystery series that I hadn't dipped into before.

Consider the Lily

Finished August 9
Consider the Lily by Elizabeth Buchan

This novel has been in my reading pile for a while and then migrated to my purse. I finished it while eating lunch. This is a book about people, about gardening, and about the power of money to influence behaviour. It begins in the summer of 1929, with the estate of Hinton Dysart getting increasing rundown due to financial limitations. Kit Dysart is the only son in the family and has been told to marry money to save his family estate. At the wedding of his sister Polly, he meets two cousins, the lovely Daisy Chudleigh, and the orphaned heiress Matty Verrall. Both young women fall for him, but he only has eyes for Daisy until his father calls him home to deal with more financial fallout. Matty seizes the situation and proposes and Kit agrees.
But Matty is always aware of the reasons Kit agreed to marry her, and of the feelings he continues to have for her cousin Daisy. Matty is also now resented by Daisy, who has strong feelings for Kit.
Matty's unhappiness grows as she remains unable to have a child, and after redoing the estate and proving herself to be an able manager of the household, she begins on the garden. As she learns more about the garden's history, she discovers her talents in this area, and learns of the link between the Dysart family history and her own situation.
Interspersed with comments on the garden by the present-day Harry, this story set between the wars, has strong characters and shows the love for gardening the author has. A wonderful read.
My copy also included discussion questions and an author interview, so perfect for a book club.

A New Leaf

Finished May 10
A New Leaf: growing with my garden by Merilyn Simonds

Simonds follows the seasons in her garden, talking about the large variety of plants, her relationships with them, the history of her garden, and her family and friends.
The writing is a mix personal experience and gardening advice. I found it very interesting, with good advice regarding gardening, but I was a bit put off by her invented titles for all the people in her life. From her spouse, Beloved, to good neighbors Garden Guru, Rosarian, Humanist, and Farmer, nobody is identified by their real name, and I found that came across as affected to me. Perhaps she was trying to protect them by not naming them, but that did not work for me.
But her descriptions of her gardens, her love of plants, flowers, vegetables, and trees comes through clear and strong and captures the reader, making one want to go out and dig in, if not go out to garden centres and shop.
Inspiring.

The Red Garden

Finished May 17
The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman, read by Nancy Travis
Needing an audiobook for my commute, I grabbed this off the "New" bookshelf. The book is a series of vignettes set in the small town of Blackwell, Massachusetts over a period of three hundred years. Starting with ill-prepared settlers getting stuck there in a snowstorm and surviving due to the fortitude of one woman, the town has a long history. We see bears, eels, bees and other wildlife. There are families that appear and reappear in the various times. There are people on the run, and people looking to find something. From the Civil War to the Vietnam War, the people of the town are touched by events around them. There is love, grief, and happiness.
At the center of the town is the first house, the Brady house, and, behind it, a garden. A special garden, where only red plants can grow. And at the heart of the garden, love, and truth.
This book is one that grabs you and keeps you wanting more. The characters are intriguing and unique. The stories they live fascinating. I really enjoyed it.