The Seekers' Garden - Libroj.org

Poŝlibro, 246 paĝoj

Eldonita je 22-a de julio 2012 de CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

ISBN:: 978-1-4782-8923-4

(1 recenzo)

If you stand still for long enough, the past catches up with you...

Leaving behind the fragments of her old life, Marcia Reed-Wilton crosses the world to return to her dilapidated childhood home and dig up the weeds of the past. Next door, Mrs Everglade struggles to maintain her independence in spite of her increasing frailty. Sixteen-year-old Lea escapes into her poetry to cope with depression until meeting Alex, a much more potent distraction. Meanwhile, Iris leaves her career on a whim to embark on an adventure of an entirely different kind, moving to a sleepy seaside town to write a book. On the other side of the world in opposite seasons, Zane, vocalist for a popular band is haunted by cryptic dreams that lead him home. A few twists of fate and a buried secret leave these individuals deeply and unexpectedly connected.

The Seekers' Garden is a lush and …

If you stand still for long enough, the past catches up with you...

Leaving behind the fragments of her old life, Marcia Reed-Wilton crosses the world to return to her dilapidated childhood home and dig up the weeds of the past. Next door, Mrs Everglade struggles to maintain her independence in spite of her increasing frailty. Sixteen-year-old Lea escapes into her poetry to cope with depression until meeting Alex, a much more potent distraction. Meanwhile, Iris leaves her career on a whim to embark on an adventure of an entirely different kind, moving to a sleepy seaside town to write a book. On the other side of the world in opposite seasons, Zane, vocalist for a popular band is haunted by cryptic dreams that lead him home. A few twists of fate and a buried secret leave these individuals deeply and unexpectedly connected.

The Seekers' Garden is a lush and captivating exploration of loss, growth and spirituality, revealing the way connections form in unlikely places.

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis The Seekers' Garden de Isa Pearl Ritchie

A spiritual novel

3 steloj

I was initially drawn to request a review copy of The Seekers' Garden by its gorgeous cover art, then was convinced to do so when I realised its author was Isa Pearl Ritchie. I loved her novel Fishing For Maui which I read back in 2018 and was keen to discover more of her writing. The Seeker's Garden, actually an earlier novel first published in 2012, shares themes of familial connection and being disconnected from ones heritage. It also has a fairly large multi-generation cast, the portrayals of which I feel is one of Ritchie's real strengths as an author. In fact Mrs Everglade was one of my favourite characters and I would have happily foregone sone of Lea's teenage angst poetry in order to hear more from Marcia's elderly neighbour.

The Seeker's Garden is primarily a fictional novel, but I felt it also contained elements of a spiritual self …

I was initially drawn to request a review copy of The Seekers' Garden by its gorgeous cover art, then was convinced to do so when I realised its author was Isa Pearl Ritchie. I loved her novel Fishing For Maui which I read back in 2018 and was keen to discover more of her writing. The Seeker's Garden, actually an earlier novel first published in 2012, shares themes of familial connection and being disconnected from ones heritage. It also has a fairly large multi-generation cast, the portrayals of which I feel is one of Ritchie's real strengths as an author. In fact Mrs Everglade was one of my favourite characters and I would have happily foregone sone of Lea's teenage angst poetry in order to hear more from Marcia's elderly neighbour.

The Seeker's Garden is primarily a fictional novel, but I felt it also contained elements of a spiritual self help guide, especially in the way Marcia's workshops were presented in full to the reader. I could imagine myself joining in the guided chakra meditations had I had the story as an audiobook edition and I learned a lot about this aspect of spirituality through reading the novel. In considering connections, as it inspired me to do, I was reminded of the first essay from In Praise of Lilith by Susan Scott where her gardening also took on the role of a spiritual practice.

Unfortunately I wasn't as enamoured by The Seeker's Garden as I had hoped. The novel took a while to get into its stride as each main character took turns introducing themselves whereas the closing reconciliations seemed surprisingly quick and easy so overall I didn't think the story's structure was balanced. Also, the male characters didn't come across as authentically as the women so I struggled to accept them in the same way. However, the book was still a diverting read that I am glad I spotted and I could appreciate how Ritchie's talent had developed in the years between her two novels.