|
Susannah Nelson, aged 50, is vaguely unsettled despite her tranquil home and long-term successful marriage to husband Joe. Why is she suddenly dreaming about Jake, her high school sweetheart? She hopes that her summer vacation, with its respite from her teaching career, will help return her perspective on her life.
Joe suspects that Susannah's recent pensive mood is actually depression, stemming from her father's November death. Susannah is equally certain that that is not the problem, given the strained relationship she shared with her father. She concedes that maybe her father's death started her thinking of Jake again, since he probably played a part in breaking them up. Now she longs for closure of that long-ago relationship with Jake and the sudden ending that has always mystified her.
Susannah is distracted from her problems when she learns that her elderly mother, Vivian, who is back in Susannah's home town, is having problems. Vivian accuses her longtime housekeeper of stealing from her. She is forgetful, has gotten lost while wandering, is losing weight, and no longer has a social life. Vivian insists she has seen her husband, even though she realizes he is dead. Susannah decides to go stay with her mother, planning to settle her into an assisted-living community. She's also hoping for the opportunity to talk to Jake. She feels driven to find out the truth behind their breakup so she can put an end to her fantasies about him.
Meanwhile, Susannah and Joe's daughter Chrissie dreads leaving college to spend the summer with her parents --- especially her critical mother. Chrissie also dreads the separation from her perfect boyfriend, while knowing that something feels wrong between the two of them.
After spending time with her mother, Susannah realizes that she is in worse condition than she'd feared. She's glad she has reconnected with her childhood friend Carolyn, who proves to be as easy to confide in as ever. Carolyn, now running her family's lumber mill, is equally thrilled to have a friend re-enter her life, enabling her to disclose the burgeoning attraction she feels to her gardener.
When Vivian finally agrees to move to an assisted-living apartment, Susannah's job isn't finished. She must sort and dispose of her parents' lifetime accumulation and clean the house in order to sell or rent it out. She must also deal with her own guilt and sorrow. Her burden is increased when Chrissie arrives to "help" her mother pack up Vivian's home, and lands in a relationship with a man who is every mother's nightmare.
An intriguing mystery surrounding Susannah's deceased brother develops, clue by tantalizing clue. Why is her father not buried with his only son? Who leaves flowers on Doug's grave? Is it the same person who breaks into Vivian's house and steals his high school mementos? Could it be that nothing --- and no one --- connected to Susannah's past is as she remembers?
It's clear that Debbie Macomber cares deeply about her fully-realized characters and their family, friends and loves, along with their hopes and dreams. She also makes her readers care about them. Macomber capably serves up several unexpected plot turns in SUSANNAH'S GARDEN topped off with a doozy of a satisfying ending, complete with the biggest, most surprising twist of all. It all adds up to a pleasurably engrossing read.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
Back to top.
|
