This is a romance novel that covers young love, missed love, love in marriage and love after death. Susannah is bored with her life, which although is good, isn’t really happy. Susannah struggles with her college age daughter, her mother, her anger towards her dead father and her sense of missing something in her marriage. Susannah wonders if she married the wrong man and seeks to find her first love in her hometown while getting her mother moved into an assisted living facility with the “help” of her daughter. As Susannah hunts down her first love, hangs out with her best friend from high school, and packs up her parents things, she makes some enlightening discoveries which made the ending very interesting.I loved the cover and liked some of Debbie Macomber’s other books so chose to read Susannah’s Garden. I think the title and cover of this book are misleading. For example, the cat belongs to a neighbor and is mentioned only once. “Susannah’s garden” was mentioned twice and not until the last third of the book. I would have chosen “Stupid Susannah,” “Judge Dad” or “Peace with the Past” instead. I kept thinking Susannah was stupid through most of the book. I liked this book okay, but it is all about relationships and the most action was when Susannah’s mother moved into the assisted living facility so it’s not a page turner. My favorite character was Vivian, Susannah’s mother. I felt sad for her having to leave her home just because she got lost one day and claimed to see her dead husband. If you want a good book about a garden, I recommend either The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain or Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah.
Susannah Nelson is returning to her hometown of Colville, Washington to help her mother Vivian, who is recently widowed and not coping well. While Susannah's main reason for the visit is to help her mother, she has another reason - to reconnect with old friends, especially her high school boyfriend Jake. Even though Susanna is happily married with two children, she can't help wonder how Jake is doing. What she discovers will not only change her marriage but her relationship with her parents (including her deceased father) and her daughter and change the life of her close friend Carolyn forever. "Susannah's Garden" is a nicely done novel. Author Debbie Macomber focuses mostly on Susannah with some chapters focusing on Vivian and Carolyn. Vivian's story is the most heartbreaking as she mourns her husband and is also becoming very forgetful. Anyone who has had to deal with elderly parents or grandparents will emphasize with Susannah as she struggles to do what is right for her mother. I had less sympathy for Susannah as she risked her marriage looking for Jake, even to the point of hiring a private investigator to find him. Her relationship with her daughter Chrissie is very well done even if Macomber basically repeats the Susannah-Jake plot line with the Chrissie-Troy romance. Carolyn is a nicely developed character and is involved in a nicely done twist at the end of the book. Unfortunately, while the women are well written the men aren't - Susannah's husband Joe has the patience of a saint while Susannah looks for Jake, I wish he had shown some backbone. "Susannah's Garden" is a light, pleasant read - a perfect beach book.
What do You think about Susannah's Garden (2007)?
I liked this book also, mainly because it was about a character that I read about in one of her other books. This one was not as fun to read, because the main character seemed to be hung up on finding answers on her old boyfriend even though she we now 50 years old and married for 25 years. It seemed that she was desperated to find out information that she just needed to let go. I did like the ending and how everything did work out between all characters. This author tends to have happy endings and I do like those.
—Sabrina
I read this book thinking it was a sequel to The Shop on Blossom Street. And Blossom street was only mentioned at the very end of the book. I was hoping for something more like Blossom Street and instead I got a book full of characters that I disliked intensely and a story that only kept me reading to find out the answer to the mystery behind the story. I was glad when it was over and I was disappointed that the characters who deserved it never got their comeuppance and the characters the reader is supposed to like never really redeemed themselves. Not to mention the fact that when the mystery of the story is finally solved it's such a bland climax and such a stupid resolution that instead of feeling satisfied like I usually do at the end of a good book, I was just really ticked off that I had wasted so much time on such a dumb story with such lame characters.I gave the book one star, because it did manage to keep me on the hook long enough to finish it. But, if you're looking for something uplifting and enjoyable like Blossom Street...don't read this book.
—Julie
It took me a while to get onto why this was included in the "Blossom Street" series of books. It seemed to be a stand alone story.... and then I read the author's notes at the end. I get it.This was a fascinating book. I have cared for family members with Alzheimer's and Ms Macomber's ability to portray not just the caregiver's distress and point of view, but to also put voice to the confusion that must be going on inside the dementia victim was pure genius. The details of accusations and "Stolen" items and hidden things found in odd places could have been written nearly word for word from the experience I have witnessed with one family member.It is rare a book can stay ahead of me clear to the denouement, I usually figure the mystery out a chapter or two ahead of the "big reveal", but this book kept me guessing and surpassed my expectations in how it tossed out red herrings and then all fell together. Well played Ms Macomber! An excellent book to read as a stand alone or as part of the series!
—Susan Baranoff
