Beginning with The Secret Garden

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.” 
― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees:

           Many of our elementary teachers chose books that would awaken our conscience. One such book was The Secret Garden. It became one of my favorites because of the miracle of healing found within the people and the walls of the secret garden.

            I’ve always been touched by the beauty in gardens, but I’m not a gardener.  I marvel at the beauty from the shaded sidelines.  I have tended tomatoes and pulled some weeds, planted wave petunias and pansies, but I wear gloves and avoid getting dirt under my fingernails. I slap bugs, gnats, and any other flying pests.

            It’s the beauty and fantasy in garden stories that appeal to me. 

            

            I loved Kate Morton’s book The Forgotten Garden and found fascinating the nocturnal garden depicted by Cassandra King in Moonrise. Gazing at a well-tended garden swells my heart with appreciation for God’s handiwork and man’s ability to work well with Mother Nature. 

             

        Flowers from bulbs are some of my favorites:  iris, daffodils, hyacinths. Hydrangeas, azaleas and beautiful dogwoods, forsythia and knock-out roses sing beautiful garden songs. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen is as beautifully written as the depiction of her garden and the magic within it.

              

If you love gardens and/or gardening, these novels should be on your list of Must Reads for 2014.