Roses

Oh man, should I be embarrassed that I was able to read a 609 page book in a week? Or that it was my second big book for the month? This was another great read. So thanks Brit for the suggestion!

Roses is what I would call a tragic love story. Mary is a 3rd generation cotton plantation owner and a lover of the land, she fell deeply and madly in love with the oh so handsome Percy who is a timber man (not the kind that climbs trees and cuts them down, but the kind that employs the cutter downers). Both were dedicated to their land and their family business which spanned over generations and filled with tradition, however one of them is a little bit too nuts over the land she grew to love. And in the end feels she has to decide between the man she loves and the land she loves. Her decision effects many many people, until she decides it is time to make it right and in the process crushes hearts and dreams in the process. In the end....oh wait I don't want to spoil it.

I know I haven't painted the loveliest pictures of all, but it is a beautifully written story with lessons of love, family, friendship, loyalty and making sure that the choices we make are the best we can for the right reasons. That we need to realize that the choices don't just effect only 1 or 2 people but many and many people.

Be warned there are a few parts that I was surprised made the book...there is one that comes to mind right away and I will say that if I had been warned but if I had known that was in the book I still would have read it. (is that bad to admit?) There were also 2 really naughty words...which I was surprised the author put in there since there really wasn't much swearing in the rest of the book.

It is beautifully sad story and I am so glad I read it. The author did a wonderful just making the reader love the characters and care what the end result is for everyone involved. I love it when I actually care what happens to the characters.

GRADE: B

The Forgotten Garden

The library FINALLY had this book available...it seems like the waiting list was forever long. It was perfect-I was able to check it out and take it on my trip to VA! It was the perfect book to read on the long airplane rides.
It is pretty much three versions of the same story...you might say that isn't possible but it is! It takes place in the early 1900's, around the 1970's and 2005. It is about a little girl who is abandoned on a ship to Australia in 1913...and when I say little girl I mean she is about 3 or 4. Way too tiny. She only has a small suitcase with a few clothes and a book of fairy tales. The dock master finds her and after searching for someone to claim her without luck he and his wife give her a name (Nell) and raise her as their own. She is delightful and well loved by everyone. Her father is plagued by the secret of how she came to be and goes against his wife's wishes and tells her how she came to be part of their family. It turns her world upside down and inside out.

Decades later life didn't turn out like Nell had thought it would as a young girl but she is learning to be content. She then decides to find out who she is and where she really comes from. 30 years later her granddaughter finishes the hunt for the truth.

It is such a great book, I was warned by a few that the first few chapters where hard to get through, but then the story took off and was wonderful. I don't know what those guys where reading...I loved this book from the first page. The only hard thing was that I kept thinking this was a story that took place in America and I didn't recognized city names...and then I would remember (over and over) that it takes place in Australia and England. Also...since this story does take place over 3 generations I was constantly starting a new chapter a little confused as to where I was and with what character. Other than those two small things this was a wonderful story. I would love to see it turned into a movie.

Grade: A